Mass Effect: Antiquated Relic
by Kazama the shell bullet
Summary: Year 2183 One month after the battle of Citadel as one Hero dies. Another steps up to honor his memory and the struggle he faced. Yoko Minamoto knows the Reaper threat isn't over and most of the council don't want to believe it. Where no else will do a thing about and Cerberus sitting back. The prequel to this story is called Mass Effect: Genesis.
1. The truth

**Hey it's Kazama the Shell Bullet here again. This will be first new chapter for the second Installment to Yoko Minamoto's story in Mass Effect. If you haven't read the Mass Effect: Genesis you will be confused on what's going. It leaves off at the end of the story and starts here. It's the two year gap before Shepard was revived by Cerberus. Everyone usually just skips up to where Shepard wakes up and I didn't feel like doing such a thing. It cheated the readers out on a good story and some crucial facts on why Cerberus attacked the Migrant Fleet. That and among many other things it will mostly be AU story between 2183 and 2185. I really want a Beta reader and I have asked for multiple people to help me. So please bear with me and my stupid grammar. It was always my worst subject in school. The poll I created before this one was ineffective. I would like to see your thoughts' on Shepard's fate. I honestly need some reviews' to tell me what Yoko should do about Shepard's predicament. Because I didn't want her to sound too overpowered in the story and god like. Well that's out the way, I hope you enjoy my second Installment of my story. **

…

"_Well what I'm going to tell you may be hard to listen too. You make think that the end of this chapter like some sort of Revelations, but this is more of a Genesis chapter. So listen to my story and I will tell you why this Antiquated Relic can tell you a story." she told them as she took the helmet from Hannah's arms._

…

_Three days earlier…_

_Hyaku Shiki was flying through space in the Omega system as Yoko piloted her ship. She made sure to wear her white samurai like armor just in case something happened. She was connected to a secure comm. channel to Alliance command to talk to Admiral Hackett. She looked up to see the man's face on the screen now._

"Admiral Hackett, I'm in the above the planet Alchera and I'm near where the beacon was launched by the Normandy. Soon as I locate the ship I will salvage it to prevent people from stealing Alliance secrets'." she told him as he nodded.

"Good idea Dr. Minamoto and thank you for heading out there. We officially wanted to go out there ourselves, but the council prevented us from going out there. Due to the fact a war ship entering the Terminus system will cause a lot of problems for the council. But your company goes into the Terminus to deliver supplies' to the colonies' in the area. So it won't be too suspicious to see a Nexus Corporation ship in the area." the admiral told her as she nodded.

"I also picked up the monument from Arcturus Station before coming here. I will plant it in an appropriate spot when I get down there. Yoko told him as he nodded.

"Of course Dr. Minamoto, we also want you to look for any remains' or dog tags' in the area as well. It can help bring some closure to the family if they have something that belonged to them." he told her as she nodded.

"Understood, I will have a report as soon as I finish up on Alchera. A salvage team has already been dispatched. I will be finished up here before they even get on the site." Yoko told them as he nodded.

"I will wait anxiously for your report then. This is Admiral Hackett out." he told her as the connection was cut. Yoko looked over to see Hope was humming to herself on her hologram tank. There was a beeping sound going off as Hope stopped humming to herself. She turned to Yoko as map popped in front of her.

"We are near the Normandy's crash site Yoko. I advised you to take a shuttle down instead of the ship. I will place the statue inside the shuttle for so you can easily plant using the transport drone." she told her as she nodded getting up.

"Thank you Hope and I will take up on your advice. So please keep the stealth system engaged and an active comm. channel running." she told her as Hope nodded.

"Aye-aye ma'am, I will watch the ship when you're on planet side." she told her as Yoko was going to the cargo bay to go down on the planet via shuttle.

…

It took a good twenty minutes to fly from the ship to the crash site using the shuttle. Yoko landed the shuttle on the planet's surface she got up from her seat and walked out the shuttle. The door closed after her as she looked around. It was snowing on planet's surface and she stepped forward only to walk on ice. Yoko turned on her scanner before she started to trudge through the snow. She activated a drone to help her in the search for the dog tags'. A drone flew off the top of the shuttle. It flew off into the wreckage inside the crater .As Yoko noticed wreckage of the Normandy were scattered around the crash site.

"My goodness, this is a damn massacre, the CIC is on the far of this crater." Yoko muttered as her drones scans were picking up something already. Traces of element zero were in containers around the crash site. She programmed the drone to collect them too as she looked around. Her scanner picked up foot prints' in the snow as she saw numerous tracks that circled the site all around.

"_Someone was already here before me…"_ Yoko thought as the scans picked up multiple things'.

"I'm looking at the scans' to see a Turian foot prints' stood here along with a human as well. I'm also detecting faint traces of Batarian, Turian, and human DNA in the foot print. The skin flakes in the area suggest a Terminus Gang…" Hope told her as Yoko closed her eyes.

"The Blue suns were here before me…" Yoko muttered as she opened her eyes. "Hope hack into any system out there and give me a report on their activities'." she told her.

"I'm already looking into the Blue Suns profile. It will take some time to find some information about their activities." Hope told her as Yoko moved out. She activated the mass effect that carried the monument. She tapped into her Omni-tool to let the statue plant down were the head of the heart of the ship was located. She checked her tact-pad to see twenty one people died during the attack. She checked the Normandy's blue print to see the black box was stored near the front of the ship. She saw the lift was done placing the statue down as she threw down a beacon and activated it. She programmed it to head back to the shuttle as she moved forward to search for the lost.

She walked among the wreckage of the ship as she used her scanner to find the dog tags hidden by the snow. Meanwhile her drone was picking up element zero and the other dog tags in the area. She stopped in the middle of the crater as she shook her head as she smiled.

"How the hell did this thing stay intact?" Yoko wondered as she looked at the Mako itself. She moved around opening the side hatch. She looked inside and she saw the equipment was fine. Yoko got into the driver's seat as she turned it on. She drove it out of the ice as she moved around checking its performance. She stopped the tank and got out to resume her search.

"When I proposed the design of the Mako, I didn't expect that it could drop from orbit intact. I should make note of that in my report to Admiral Hackett, but enough playing around. I have a job to do." she murmured as she walked up the hill to see the CIC was destroyed.

"From what Jeff has told me he died around the front of the ship. So I should be close to his body if anything remains."

She looked around the CIC that was partially intact as she looked to see she a functional data pad. As Yoko wiped it off to look it was Charles Pressly personal data pad along with his dog tag. She looked at the first entry on it.

"_I spoke with the commander about this, but I don't want these damn aliens aboard the Alliances most advanced warship. I just don't trust them…"_ Yoko looked further past the corrupted data on it. "_That damned Asari and a Quarian! What does Shepard think this is a Zoo!"_ as Yoko looked at entry number 2.

"_With the Quarian, It seems she's on some pilgrimage, trying to improve the lot of their home ship. I could understand that…_" as she looked past more corrupt data. "_Baby sit my children or anything, but if she has to be on board. I suppose that's not bad, I suppose that's not bad." _it said as Yoko looked at the last entry.

"_For a while I have been looking at past entries in this journal."_ it said as more data was corrupted. "_I was so blind at the time. I came on this ship firmly believing humanity was on its own in the galaxy. Shepard brought all these Aliens on board, and there is no way we could have accomplished what we did without them. I am proud to say I would die for any member of this crew, regardless of what world they were born on."_ as Yoko smiled to see the man turned around on his belief. A side pocked in the skirt armor opened up as Yoko inserted the data pad.

She walked past more wreckage as she saw the escape pod that hit the planet. She walked over to see her scanner go off picking up on Shepard's DNA as Yoko ran forward to the ridge around the crater. It was Shepard's helmet sitting there as she got on one knee. She prayed silently for him before she picked up the helmet to inspect it. It was mostly intact, with only a few scorch marks on the helmet as she looked around to see there were no body parts.

"Hope, I found Shepard's helmet mostly intact yet…" Yoko murmured.

"I noticed that the scans you collected around the area should have given at least his body. Even I know that if there is intact armor lying around in the crash site. There would be bits of his body everywhere or even some intact parts limbs. The planet is so cold that when he entered atmosphere burning up. He would be frozen way before the impact and shatter upon impact. Yet the ceramic armor held in place possibly due to his shield system that was still online. Yet someone collected his remains' before you got here. This seems almost too planned out." Hope murmured as Yoko saw a drone flying around her holding the crews' dog tags. She reached out for them and placed them into the helmet as she collected all twenty of them. Yoko needed to do one more thing before leaving.

"I need to recover the black box still." Yoko murmured as she walked back to her shuttle. She saw the cockpit section was near her landing zone. She walked into past the former bridge as she saw Jeff's old pilot seat. She ripped the panel off under his seat as she saw the black box. She plugged her tact-pad into to retrieve the data and then unplugged it. She brought up the information to see what happened. She saw an image of a weird ship that hit them with a beam. It was too organic to be some regular ship, but it fired beams like a reaper.

"The long range scanner picked up unidentified vessel that looked like a cruiser with an unknown signal. It changed course to intercept the Normandy's position. It seems to me that Sovereign's little friends are behind it and Harbinger has dealt with Shepard first. Beams and an unknown alien ship we haven't seen before." Hope told her as Yoko walked back to the shuttle as she prepared to leave.

"Hope, it seems like another Reaper is on the scene now. The blue suns only want to make money or they want something for this." she told her as she was in her shuttle as it took off now.

"That's a long stretch Yoko, but Legion said something about Collectors'. They said they were taking an interest in humanity and they are rumored not to exist. Yet somehow every couple of centuries' they show up. Yoko I have a bad feeling about this…" she told as she Yoko lined up the shuttle to dock.

"I know something bad is going to happen soon Hope. I will not say anything until I have proof first. I don't want wild theories' to ruin my reputation." she told her as she walked to the elevator. She headed back up to the CIC as she walked up to the seat. She took off her helmet as she sat down.

"Hope you know the drill…" she told her as she saw her nod.

"The recovery team made it to the system to pick up the Normandy. I'm patching you through with the Admiral himself." Hope stated as her avatar disappeared she saw a hologram of Admiral Hackett again as she frowned. She held gripped the dog tags' and Shepard's helmet.

"Admiral I was on the surface of the planet myself it was bad." she murmured as he looked sadden.

"So you found them all and even Shepard?" Steven asked her as she nodded.

"Not quite the crew members' bodies were vaporized in when they hit the atmosphere. Yet Shepard's body was broken and burned up. He should have been bits of meat fused with his ceramic armor, yet someone beat me to the site." she told him as he looked confused.

"Are you saying that someone took what's left of his body?" Hackett asked her in disbelieve as she nodded.

"I suspect the blue suns managed to retrieve his body before me. Three traces of DNA particles consisting of Human, Batarian, and Turian were there on the scene. Along with the foot traffic to prove that they were there here before my arrival." she told him as he shook his head.

"Good work Dr. Minamoto and thank you for bringing some closure. I don't want people to know about his body being taken." he told her as she nodded.

"I don't know what trouble it could bring if we tell everyone on my findings on Alchera. So I will keep quiet until I have some actual proof next time. So when is the funeral?" Yoko asked him.

"Three days from now there will be one on Elysium in Shepard's memory. You are allowed to tell them the facts in this case, but nothing more. This Admiral Hackett out." he told her as the comm. channel went out.

_Flashback ended_

…

_Two days later after the funeral as Hyaku Shiki secretly docked into Omega._

Yoko wore the armor she wore the other day as she placed a metallic cloak over the white armor. It was to cover up any identifying features of her armor. The hood hid the face mask really well, but the glowing yellow eyes looked menacing.

"So Hope I'm going to hit a major Blue suns base on Omega. What do you think I should carry?" Yoko asked her A.I. friend as she popped up right beside her on the console.

"Something a little low key and you should carry beam weapons'. I suggest Midnight SMG, DMR, Eagle eye pistol, and the Hyper Bazooka. The hyper bazooka needs to be tested still, so it will be a great trial run for it. It holds eight shot and it has a slow fire rate, yet it packs a heavily armored targets. Bring your shield along to carry an extra magazine for the bazooka." she told her as Yoko armed herself properly.

"I will be back Hope and make sure to cut of communications' for the Blue suns'. I don't want everyone to know I'm waltzing into their place. Yoko inserted two extendable swords into her armor as she moved forward to the elevator.

"Yes ma'am." Hope told her as Yoko was getting ready to assault this base. She checked her data on this base and it was in. It was stationed in the Gozu district and it was low key. It was easy to spot seeing their symbols on the walls. She walked the street with ease as she walked into the district to see the familiar blue armor walking around.

"Hey you!" a Batarian shouted as Yoko turned to them to see they were walking up with guns pointed at her. It was only five Batarians' standing in front of her.

"In order to walk around this district you have to pay up. So you came here to pay us before we start to hunt you down. That's really smart." he told Yoko.

"Yeah, I got what you need." she said as she reached for extendable blade and SMG. She pulled her sword as she cut off his head as she unloaded her SMG point blank into them. She moved towards the door as one dove for cover. She raised her hand up as bright blue aura covered her as he was caught in a stasis. She walked up to him as she unloaded the rest of her clip into his head. The stasis broke as he fell to the ground, she reloaded her gun. She flicked the blood of her sword as she walked towards the door.

"Thank god, Hope told me to bring my Midnight SMG; it has a silencer on the gun." Yoko muttered. She placed her sword up with her SMG. Yoko pulled out explosives' for the door. She placed them on the door properly. She pulled out her DMR as she walked back away from the door.

She tapped her tact-pad as she looked at the door.

*BOOM*

As she activated a Hologram as it ran forward inside the room as people they fired at it. A loud noise went off as she smiled.

Everything slowed down as she rushed in as the three Turian's sat there dazed as she placed a shot into each of their foreheads. She looked over to see four Batarians as she shot them each in the eye. She pointed her gun under her arm as she fired behind her to see a person holding a shotgun. She waved her hand creating a shock wave knocking four more people taking cover using a table. They staggered back as she placed bullet in each of their foreheads'.

As time resumed as she checked how much ammo in her gun to see three shots left. She walked down the hallway slowly

"I love that hologram with EMP burst it makes it much easier to get through the door." Yoko joked as she moved forward through hallway. She saw one running down the hall.

"We have a!" he shouted as she placed three bullets into the back of his head. He fell forward as she reloaded their gun as Yoko looked around.

"I guess explosions and gunfire is normal occurrence here…" she muttered as she walked past the body keeping up guard. She switched back to her SMG now as she slowly made her way to another door. She walked to the side of the door as she saw it opened to see a Turian come out.

"I wonder what that noise was coming from upstairs." he said as he felt a gun behind his head. He stopped dead in his tracks. "This better be some joke guys because it's not funny…" he muttered as he turned to see the glowing yellow eyes.

"I'm your own worst nightmare…" Yoko muttered as knocked away his guns' as he stood there in fear.

"Don't kill me please, I only join for money and protection." he said as Yoko sat there amused.

"Answer my question then if you want to live buddy. I'm looking for Commander Shepard's body and if you don't have the answer to my question. You know what's going to happen." she stated.

"You mean that guy that died in a ship attack… we handed his body off to his agent. Yet all of our men died during the hand off, from some crazy Asari chick and some Drell." he told her as Yoko showed him an image of Liara on her tact-pad.

"That's her, so your friends with her, I swear we didn't touch her!" he shouted.

"How did the deal play out?" Yoko asked him as he was thinking. "Shadow Broker was really pissed that the Asari took his body. He placed a hit on her..." he said as Yoko stabbed her sword through his stomach as she pulled it away.

"I thought we had a deal…" he gasped as she flicked the blood of her sword. "We did, but you couldn't give a full answer to that." She told them as she moved down past the open door. She walked over to see the place was warehouse and dock at the same time. They had so many crates in the room having drugs, weapons, and armor. She zoomed in to see some of the containers were C-Sec weapons.

"So that's what happened to the weapons C-sec ordered. I might as well get it back.

…

Yoko walked up behind the guard up top over seeing them. She snapped his neck with ease as he dropped to the ground. She looked over to see the last sniper as she placed a stasis on him. She ran over knocking him down as she covered his mouth. She broke his neck quietly as rolled to cover. A small camera on her shoulder popped up. She moved it around using her tact-pad as she saw them covering up the elevator. She looked to see it was going down, she flipped to her bazooka now.

"It sounds like another massacre is going to happen." she laughed.

"Something is up, I lost contact the men upstairs!" one man shouted as they rushed towards the elevator as a group of them were blown away by the blast as everyone scrambled wondering what to do. Seven more shots rain down on them as they saw explosion killing waves of them. The Batarian looked around to see his men slaughtered like nothing. He heard a thug behind him as she turned pointing his gun. He was split down the middle by Yoko's blade. He fell over screaming as Yoko stabbed her blade into his body. She reloaded her bazooka and placed it on her back. She saw a door from on the far side of the room. She tossed an arc grenade into them as it exploded their shields' went down. Their guns' were over heating as well as they looked up to see grenade dropped at their feet as it exploded.

Yoko walked up carrying her SMG as she walked inside the door. She saw that no one had survived the explosion. She stepped over their body as she saw a terminal with a server. She walked over to the terminal as Yoko connected to it with her tact-pad. She let Hope go into the system as she watched the door.

"Interesting little fact we just found out. This was their main warehouse and not their main base of operations on Omega. I managed to funnel the credits they earned for the past month. It a grand total of ten million credits. They even shake down the people in the district for protection money. They are really greedy bunch and it seems a lot of them are out doing some high risk jobs. I will send the information away to the people who need it badly." Hope told her as Yoko nodded.

"So can you tell me something about Shepard's body?" she asked Hope.

"Of course now on to business, it seems like they passed it off to Shadow Broker's enforcer named Tazzik. Majority of the credits we funneled came down from the deal. He took off with the body, but it seemed like there was a problem on Shadow Brokers end. It says Cerberus was also here on Omega killing their men. No… Liara was here just like he said early. She was looking for Shepard's body and they wanted to know why. Yet it seems like Liara retrieved his body for Cerberus. They also made a deal with the collectors…" Hope told her as the sound of gun fire going out through the district.

"Oh god, you caused a turf war Yoko don't you feel proud." Hope told her as she shrugged.

"Bring the ship around so I can pick up the guns and armor for C-Sec. I bet they really appreciate getting their stuff back."

"I'm bringing the ship around for pick up. You better brace yourself the blood pack is coming your way along with blue sun members." she told her as Yoko as she ran out to see Krogan storming the building with blue suns fighting it out now as Yoko sat there watching the fight. Hyaku Shiki flew into dock as it unloaded as storm of bullets killing the people on the top level.

"I think it's best to leave Omega now, I see that Eclipse want the warehouse too." Hope stated as Yoko ran over to the crane. The machine made a loud noise as it picked up one of the crates', she looked back to see the fight could be heard from even down here. Yoko saw demo charge drop from her ship as she walked over to arm it. She armed bomb as she noticed the timer was set up. She turned back to see all the crates were in the cargo bay now. She turned on her armors boosters' as she shot up into the cargo bay.

"Take us back to the Citadel, Hope." Yoko stated as the cargo bay closed it sped off the station as the Blue suns rushed into the warehouse as they no trace of their weapons and armor.

"Damn they took all the weapons and armor from the shipment we jacked!" Batarian shouted.

"Someone has been through our servers and stole every ounce of data. Along with our credits we got from the deal with Shepard's body." one stated.

"They didn't take the drugs' at all." a Turian told them as he heard a beeping sound. "Does anyone of you hear a ticking noise?" he asked as they looked around as the moved boxes of drugs out the way to see the bomb.

"Oh shit!" he shouted

*BOOM*

As Yoko saw that dock was blown away as she smirked.

"We got a clean and full extraction Hope, not bad." Yoko muttered.

"Before I was cut off I was talking about the collectors'. They made a deal for technology to find out population numbers of our colony's and Earth itself."Hope told her as Yoko sat confused in her chair as Hyaku Shiki activated its slip space. She was now amused now at the situation, but first C-Sec needed their stuff back.

…

It took a day for her ship to get back to the Citadel. It was showing signs of it the rebuilding process still in progress. Hyaku Shiki docked; the cargo bay opened as C-Sec officers was there to inspect the cargo. Yoko sat down on the bench wearing her armor as she carried her pistol Eagle eye, SMG, and DMR. She saw Executor Pallin walked up to her as he turned to see them unload it.

"So you went to Omega and caused up some trouble there. Well they are criminals' and there are no laws there to break. The Blue Suns has been a thorn in our side for a quite a while." Pallin told her as Yoko handed him an 'OSD' card.

"I managed to download their files before blowing up the place. It details their crimes in Citadel Space along on how they are doing the crimes'. It even shows locations of several cells that are working on the Citadel." she told him as he looked at it the data on his Omni-tool. He tapped in several demands as several swat teams'.

"I have men in route to these locations as we speak. There are also profiles' inside the data to ensure we get the right man. Despite your background you know how to get the right without breaking the law." Pallin told her.

"There are things' I don't do Executor Pallin. Killing civilians' is one of them amongst many. So how is Garrus doing ever since the attack?" Yoko asked him as he seemed a bit saddened.

"I gave him leave to attend the funeral on Elysium, but he has slipped into his old tendencies. He can't stand all the red tape blocking C-Sec up. Then this thing about the Reapers' was covered up. He wanted to reapply for Spectre position, but many found he doesn't take orders' well. It seems like we are losing him due to politics'." Pallin told her as she shook her head.

"Apparently they don't what this out because it does look like a Nightmare. So they cut him right before the testing even went through." she told him.

"So did the commander suffer or it was painless?" Pallin asked her as they finished unloading the crates.

"That he died relatively painlessly considering he died before impact." Yoko told him solemnly as he shook his head.

"By the spirits' it sounds so tragic, even taking a bullet to the head it better than that." he muttered as he tapped Omni-tool as sent a 100, 000 credits to her.

"I know you don't need any charity money, but you did a good job getting our stuff. Along with the fact that the data you provided will save more lives today." he told her as Yoko got up.

"I see the bio-metrics machines I donated are here. But it's taking time to get everyone trained to know the system." she told him as they walked along.

"We had increasing number of humans' enlistment into C-Sec. Right now I can't afford to be picky; we need a lot of officers to fill in for that died during the attack. C-Sec also tightened security to reduce the possibility of Geth infiltration, instituting "no-fly" lists, barring weapons and bio-amps, and even barring individuals from traveling in certain circumstances, no matter how unlikely the suspect." Pallin stated.

"That seems quite extreme, but the Geth infiltrating the Citadel is ridiculous itself. To save some people from having headache's there should be a system to record everything about them. So if they bring such a like a ceremonial knife, they should check it in with C-Sec first. They would subjugate themselves to a search of their person in cargo. Even if they do pass, they would need their Omni-tool to be tracked at all times." she told him as he nodded.

"It sounds better than holding up the officers' time. I will check into that possibility after my teams come back." he told her as she walked off to air car. She needed to talk to her father about her findings still.

…

It took Yoko twenty minutes to get from the docks to the Presidium due to traffic. Yoko walked up the steps as she waved hello to the Asari secretary. She walked down the hall way as she walked into the Embassy to see her father sitting at attention talking to the council. He wore a blue tuxedo as he turned to his daughter. They saw her bow to them as she came back up.

"I'm sorry to intrude councilors'." she asked them.

"You didn't interrupt anything Spectre Minamoto. You actually came on time for this meeting; we were just about to call you in." Tevos explained.

"We would like to congratulate you on bringing back the weapons and armor C-Sec needed badly. Along with the fact that the teams sent had good raids and arrests. We can actually crack down on the criminals operating in the Citadel. The Intel you provided ensures that C-Sec can stop other criminals from coming in." Sparatus told her.

"We called the hearing about Shepard's death and your findings'." Valern told her as she looked to her father.

"I'm guessing that you did a little work on Omega after the search on Alchera." Isamu noted as she took of her helmet. She sat it down on the table as she looked back up. She sent the data to them by as their Omni-tools' glowed.

"My findings' on Alchera led me all the way to Omega Councilors'. As soon as the crash happened the Blue suns descended on the site. They taken what is left of the commanders' body and placed it in a faulty cryo-pod." she told them as they looked distraught.

"Did you recover his body?" Isamu asked his daughter as she shook her head. She sent more data to them.

"You see the Blue Suns made a deal with Shadow Broker for his body. Dr. Liara T'Soni was already on Omega hunting for his body, yet…" she told them.

"Cerberus, she gave the body to Cerberus." Sparatus muttered in disbelieve as the others' couldn't believe it.

"Correct, but it seems like that's not all to this story. Liara managed to deal some type of major blow to the Shadow Broker's operations'. So he is on the run scrambling on way to cover his tracks. She most likely has a hit on her and the Shadow Broker cut ties to provide information to Cerberus." Yoko stated.

"What do they plan to do to his body?" Tevos asked her as she shrugged.

"I don't know, but if I have to take a guess. They would want to reconstruct him and let him work for Cerberus. Though I doubt Shepard would work with the man at all after seeing a dead Admiral killed by their cell. They can place mind control chip in his head to control him." Yoko explained.

"This is just damn great… right before the damn funeral…" Isamu muttered.

"She thinks that Cerberus can revive the commander. Is that even possible?" Tevos explained.

"It's possible to do it, but mentally wise he will be screwed over. You can reconstruct a human being by using chemicals that simulate the body and synthetic implants. Though it will take billions to do it that way and the other way well it's just my theory." she told them.

"We will place a warrant out for Dr. T'Soni's arrest then. She has some explaining to do for pulling such a stunt." Sparatus told them.

"If we take her into custody she will be killed on the spot seeing the Shadow Broker Agents' will be there waiting for her." Tevos protested.

"She broke the law Councilor Tevos and despite her no criminal back ground. Working with terrorists is a punishable offense by death." Valern noted.

"I agree with the fact we can't let off after doing such a thing. She is a security risk now and we can't trust her. We can't let her go without doing some form of punishment." she told them.

"True, but this event took place in the Terminus systems were there is no law." Tevos told them as they nodded.

"True, but the rules state that working with them you will still be punished. You know this is fir the best and you need to strip away her credentials' at least. This is her first time breaking the law, but we need to know where Shepard's body is." Isamu noted as they all nodded.

"Liara T'Soni will no longer work in any government places or head to secure sites. We will have a team interrogate her with her dealing with Cerberus…" Tevos stated.

"We agree that anyone that made some type of deal with Cerberus. We will prosecute them no matter who they are. We stated from the beginning and it won't change for Dr. T'Soni. Dr. Minamoto, please make sure that your mother is okay first." Valern told her as pressed her radio. The line picked as gun shots was heard.

"I'm sorry that you had to hear that Yoko. I was having my seminar and Cerberus agents' showed up trying to kidnap me." Ayumi told them as Isamu looked even madder.

"Are you alright?" Isamu asked his wife.

"Of course silly, Padock suggested that I bring some guards with me. The security team neutralized all the hostiles'. I recovered some data off them stating they wanted me for human reconstruction project. It was about Commander Shepard and it seemed they were desperate to make a move here in front of crowds." she told them as they shook their heads'.

"That bastard had the audacity to come after my wife to help reconstruct the commander." Isamu muttered angrily.

"Well we have a dilemma now and we cannot get Shepard's body back…" Valern told them.

"We will wait for him to resurface then as soon as he shows up." Sparatus told them.

"Spectre Minamoto, I know you want to do the right thing to find his body. Yet we cannot send you chasing after a ghost…" Tevos explained.

"I understand, but what about his mother along with his friends'." she told them.

"They deserve a right to know what happened to him, but soon as you tell them. They cannot speak a word about this." Valern told them.

"We will have an assignment in the future for you to handle as well. The hearing is officially over and we let you have some time to yourself for his funeral." Tevos told her as the comm. link was cut as the father and daughter can only frown now as Isamu turned to his daughter. She was already leaving out the door now.

"I'm going to pick Kaa-san from her seminar personally." she told him as she stormed out the door.


	2. Preparation

**A/N it's been a while since I last updated, I keep changing up the chapter up some. Yet I will be hitting some main points of the book called the Ascension project. So bear with me on the grammar, I had my brother look over it. I wanted to touch on some points in the upcoming two years. So if you have any ideas on what should happen in the two year gap? I would appreciate it greatly on any words. But Shepard will not be saved by Yoko in the story line. I want to create some semblance of story line for ME2. I hope you read, review, ad enjoy. **

…

_Elysium 2183_

_After the mass funeral precession_

Yoko told her story to them about the ordeal that they all she went through the past week. They had a look of shock on their faces as Hannah was left confused by her story.

"So Cerberus wants to revive the commander to fight for them…" Anderson muttered as she nodded.

"Correct, they tried kidnapping my mother to work for them, but she brought a security team with her. The only two people in the galaxy that possibly know how to revive a person from death are…" she told them as she looked at Hannah.

"Only you and your mother know possible ways to revive someone from the dead. Cerberus on the other hand doesn't have a clue on what they are going to do. They don't care about anything unless they get results." Anderson told her as she nodded.

"Is reviving him a good idea?" Joker asked her.

"Listen up and listen well everyone, even if I can't stop them from doing possibly reviving him using the corpse. He isn't John anymore or let alone the same one you knew. Liara isn't your friend anymore as well. She went behind everyone's' back and handed over his body to terrorists. I may have done questionable things' and kept secrets' from people. She crossed the line that day and she didn't even have the courtesy tell of her decision to his mother." she told them as it a hint of sadness in their voice.

"I'm going to ask you something hard and I do not like to say it. If John turns up in the future do not trust a word that come from his mouth. Even if he recalls memories of the time you had together he will be working for Cerberus. He could have a control chip in his forehead or tricked by the "Illusive Man" to work for him. Once a person dies there is no coming we all know and it's not reincarnation." she told them as Joker clenched his fists' lightly.

"You're asking us to not follow him or talk to him. What if it is him?" Joker asked her.

"You do realize the feelings he will have are not real. They are simulated by drugs to simulate being human. I said I didn't like this too, but you can trust a word coming from his mouth if he is revived. You can't talk to Liara anymore as well." she told them.

"To think Liara will pull a fast one on us. I know Wrex wants to unite his people together. She did it right behind our backs. She didn't even tell anyone about her decision. Is she going to be punished to the fullest extent of the law?" Ashley asked her angrily as she shook her head.

"Tevos held out and said that she had no criminal record. She had extreme sense of depression and most likely cornered to work for them. At one point she could have taken the ship and left back to Citadel space with his body. They taken away her job and they barred her from doing any real job." she told them.

"So she gets a slap on the wrists for taking my son's body away…" Hannah muttered.

"Liara has effective death sentence seeing that pissed off the Shadow Broker. The shadow broker is not happy with Cerberus as well seeing he wanted John's body. Sooner or later one of his agents will know where John is being kept at." she told them.

"Keelah, I thought Liara was smarter than that yet she betrayed everyone she knew…" Tali muttered as she walked away.

"The story itself is enough to make Tali cry. After the sick stuff we saw Cerberus did on Binthu. They even killed Admiral Kahoku. We just had the funeral and then we hear your story. It's a little too much and to think they want to revive the commander." Kaiden told them. The Normandy's crew walked away together trying to understand Yoko's words'. Hannah stood there crying now as Anderson walked away solemnly.

"Hannah, are you alright?" Yoko asked her as she wiped her tears away from her face.

"No, that woman had the audacity not even to tell me why. A terrorist's organization wants to revive my son from the dead. I don't understand why the Shadow Broker wanted his body. But I would like to thank you for telling me the truth. At least someone can tell me the truth about my son." Hannah told Yoko. She handed her son's helmet to her.

"Dr. Minamoto if my son does come back from the dead. Can you at least make sure it is him? I think he would appreciate getting his helmet back." Hannah told her as she walked away as well. Yoko thought to herself as she looked back into the sky. She wondered did she do the right thing by telling them. She looked back down at them as she saw the group. She saw _division and heartbreak _as she looked at John's helmet. Her tact-pad went off as she pressed turned on the radio.

"Yoko, you need to head back to the Citadel in one day. Every major government has called for a meeting to discuss galactic defense. Your father said that you drop everything and come ASAP. He also says not to wear your armor for this." Hope told her as Yoko walked to an open air car. She got in and drove off with it.

…

_One day later_

_Citadel 2183_

Yoko made it to the Citadel she saw her ships were already here on the screen. They were doing a humanitarian effort by cleaning up the wreckage, helping the homeless, and finding the dead. C-Sec was swarmed with requests to help out, but they were understaffed due to the attack. Yoko wore a black business suit, with pants instead of some dress. It was formal enough to come to the meeting itself. Since the Presidium Tower was out the question to have the summit meeting. It was being held on the Destiny Ascension for the time being. She had to dock her ship with the Destiny Ascension itself as well the others were using shuttles to get on the ship.

Primarch Fedorian and Dalatrass Linron were here as well. The Primarch was chosen to represent colonization cluster. They had 27 citizenship tiers' and the Primarch had to go through the military route just to get that position. He decides what they should do or they go to war. Primarch Fedorian was the one who wanted to go war against Humanity itself. The Salarian political network functions like the noble families of Earth's Medieval Europe. Structurally, the government consists of fiefdoms, baronies, duchies, planets, and marches (colonization clusters). Since they do not breed for love, they try to make dynasties'. They voted for Dalatrass gets the position.

Yoko walked up to see her father was here along with Udina, and Admiral Hackett was here. He stood up as he walked up to Yoko as they shook hands.

"It's good to see you're doing well Dr. Minamoto and thank you for coming on such short notice. I heard it was hard to tell them all what happened." he told her as she looked at her father.

"So what type of punishment did Liara T'Soni face?" Yoko asked them.

"She had her doctor's license pulled and she can no longer work in Citadel Space. She can no longer go home to her home planet Thessia as well.' Udina told her."

"Why is Udina here still?" Yoko asked them.

"It's because people think I got the council position due to self interest my dear daughter. So to stop everyone from spouting rumors he is here to ensure I do my part for Humanity itself. Liara T'Soni got off light due to clinical depression and no criminal record. Along with the fact that she helped saved the galaxy itself." Isamu told his daughter as she shrugged.

"On behalf the Alliance I thank you for taking the deal to make ships for us. The Alliance itself proposed that you build ships for us along with changing technical aspects as well." Hackett told her as he hand her a data pad.

"So they seriously changed their mind on my technology?" Yoko asked as the admiral nodded.

"When the Alliance saw the results of your technology, we could not say no to this. Captain Anderson volunteered to scout out the new ships to see they are to par." Hackett told them.

"Understood then, I can trust Anderson without even doing a background check." Yoko told him as she looked at the data pad. "The Alliance wants to change their standards for ships and even ground combat as well."

"Ever since the commanders' death and the Battle of the Citadel, recruitment is at an all time low. Majority of people come to the Alliance for a free education and not fight a war normally. So to put their minds at ease and help recruitment process, the Alliance agreed to waive their standards on mass relay technology." Isamu told them as a group of C-Sec officers came to the room. Detective Armando Bailey walked in after them.

"You know the drill people. We are conducting scans and body searches for weapons. Its standard procedure with everyone." he said as everyone stood up. As Admiral Hackett, Isamu, and Yoko handed in their guns as Udina as he looked a bit shocked.

"Why the hell would carry a gun into a meeting like that?" Udina asked them.

"Just relax Udina; Specters' and people in the military can carry firearms. I carry a gun for my protection." Isamu told him as Bailey shrugged.

"I can see why you have guns onboard, but the council is not going to hassle over a pistol. Everyone here needs to have shields and a personal side arm. We even have arm guards inside the room as well from each government as well." Bailey told them as they handed back their side arms. They ushered them in into the room as the noticed everyone else was already here in place.

Everyone stood in place instead of sitting down as Tevos walked into the room now.

"I see everyone here made it to the summit meeting on time. I will be presiding over this summit meeting as mediator. Tevos stated as everyone nodded in agreement. "This meeting will talk about the about improvements to Galatic defense and Citadel Security itself."

As several personal terminals sat around the CIC as everyone took their seats.

"Since Primarch Fedorian called the meeting he will have the floor." Tevos told them as he nodded as he stood up.

"After the battle of the Citadel we had to rethink some things. Then get a damage report done to the Citadel and the fleet. We noticed that our Galatic defense is lacking greatly due to the gigantic technological gap. We have noticed that the Alliance has been struggling against the Geth and we failed to notice it as well. Dalatrass Linron and I had a meeting together before the summit meeting. We do not have the technology or the information to defend against the Geth at this time." the Primarch told them as Linron nodded.

"The only one that has a clue about the Geth and their technology is Spectre Minamoto." Linron told them as they turned to her as she looked around.

"I thought the STG teams would be on top of this matter…" Yoko muttered.

"True, but every effort into collecting technology from the Geth is impossible. You befriended the Quarian people and allowed them to work for you. Every piece of Geth technology has ended up in your hands. We had no chance at Eden Prime and we knew that. Feros along with Ilos, Noveria, and even Virmire have been scoured for Geth technology." she stated.

"Virmire I thought Virmire was bombed with a nuclear device." Sparatus asked them.

"Technically it was, but the device was not like a regular nuclear device. It was a tactical nuke that one person can carry it without a problem. It was a clean nuclear device and it doesn't disperse radiation itself. It emits electricity that destroys every electronic device and along with living people there. Technically the base still stands and one can salvage what's left." Linron stated as Yoko shrugged.

"Well I see Captain Kirrahe, Lieutenant Ganto Imness, and even Padock Wiks told you about what I'm doing." she told them.

"Indeed seeing the fact sending in a Spectre or some type of spy into your company. It usually results in death or capture… Shadow broker agents coming in and don't come out, as well as the Cerberus agents that, unless someone knows something that can ruin them. You played a smart game by not using the extranet to conduct meetings. Let alone have a system that only privileged few can access. Then the fact it's guarded by two heavy mechs and A.I. to block out hacking attempts'." Linron as Fedorian looked at them.

"A.I.s' they are illegal and how come I wasn't' told about this." Fedorian told them.

"It looks like you are left out of the group then. I will bring you up to speed on the information." Isamu told him as he sent data to his terminal. "A.I. called Hope was developed to understand A.I.s' like the Geth and for research. It was approved by the council itself even before I was admitted. Despite what people say about A.I.s' hope development was quite different. We have the records and files to show she is quite efficient and helpful. Even the Quarian people who work there find no problems with her." Isamu told him as he calmed down now.

"Spectre Minamoto is what the purpose of your business on Virmire and Saren's base?" Tevos asked her.

"I wanted to actually know what's in the base itself and technology being developed there. I actually plan to colonize Virmire. Well I already started soon after the incident. I already cleared out all of the gangs on the planet already. So this whole meeting is about the Geth defense towards the Geth now." she told them as Linron nodded.

"Of course we want every piece of Geth technology you collected handed over to us for study." as Yoko shrugged.

"Okay, I'm already done studying the Geth itself. I will let Padock arrange the transport of Geth technology then." she told them.

"Then what about the ship you captured on Feros…" Linron told her.

"It's been dismantled already." she replied.

"We would also want the data from the ship as well." Fedorian asked as she nodded.

"I thought people will look for new alternatives rather than looking for ones already developed." Yoko told them.

"You're referring to that killing machine you say that's a ship." Fedorian told her as Isamu noticed the anger.

"I understand your anger of seeing another Nightmare developed, but I thought this meeting was about galactic defense. Whether you like it or not, but you can't argue the facts. Our ships were ineffective against Sovereign. It plowed right through your ships and decimated a majority of ours. The different shielding managed to save her life compared to our ships. They were cut in half by the Sovereign's main gun." Isamu noted.

"We let it slid with the new development of that thing, seeing it saved the two of our ships along with the Destiny Ascension. We are not changing our ways just to give in some prototype technology." the Primarch stated.

"To each his own, but we do care about how many lives were lost in the battle itself. But we are talking about defense and new solutions to the problem. The Geth learned from us that our weapons were inferior and they modified that problem over time. Then you're trying to do the same thing as them. In the mean time they are developing something probably better than the stuff your making. Do you see my point to this?" Isamu noted.

"Councilor Minamoto does have a point. By the time we develop new defenses against them, they would develop something even better. You were thinking about the future problem if Geth were to respond again. We do respect new technology, but the problem of making non mass relay tech. It's extreme seeing everyone has done it for years. Such a change will affect everyone's finances' and resources." Linron stated as Isamu nodded as Udina muttered something to him

"Okay we can move with the issue then, but what about the future of C-Sec. A lot of officers died in the attack." he told them.

"True this brings up to the other topic in our meeting. C-Sec is understaffed and bogged down by the reconstruction effort. Spectre Minamoto has offered humanitarian effort and cleaning up the wreckage itself and finding the dead as well, even to the point offering new technology to help support the officers. Yet we are having problems to secure the station even to the point that known Cerberus agents' are on our station." Tevos told them as everyone have a stern look on their face.

"We have new bio-metric machines in place that scan people's DNA with ease, but we don't have people trained to use them properly or provide security on the station itself." Valern told them.

"We have the Alliance Fifth fleet on standby here at the Citadel until we can create more ships to help defend the Citadel. We can't allow just anybody to join C-Sec." Sparatus explained. The meeting went on and the people in the room thought one meeting and this will be done. But the meeting will take span over a couple of days.

…

_One week later in a private meeting room on Stargazer_

_Eden Prime 2183_

Yoko wore a black kimono style dress that had white flower design to the meeting at hand. She had a white Obi tied around her waist. She wore a white haori over her shoulders as she sat down in the room. She had the portable personal terminal on the table. It was running through a list of programs and organizing events.

Her head division staff members came in seeing her tired. Sarah, Ayumi, Stark, Padock, and Elijah looked at her.

"I see the summit meeting went well…" Ayumi told her daughter.

"What's worse than a meeting taking place over the week, Udina was still an ambassador." Yoko complained.

"It's the fact that people were afraid that your father was there due to self interest. So he is keeping him along for a while to ensure he will have humanity's best interest. I hate his guts and ever since he became an ambassador. He keeps showing the negative side of humanity, but I'm happy to see your father get the position. Even Captain Anderson would be a better choice than that man." Stark told her.

"I see that Dalatrass Linron called the summit meeting." Padock told her as she looked at him.

"It's not your fault Padock about informing your own government about projects' being done here. I was wondering why a Spectre wasn't knocking on my door for five years." she told him.

"I had no choice in the matter either a Spectre comes in with biased opinion to stop our research and projects. That very Spectre might be working with the Shadow Broker and after hearing what happened. It was right choice to make it seems that he is doing more than trading information. Dalatrass Linron is one of the Sur'Kesh wealthiest bloodline. She is quite unsavory and likes to do things underhanded. She won the election for Linron bloodline by a margin." Padock told them.

"Well I think it was the right choice and the fact it did not divulge secret information. Yet people are wary of you seeing the fact not a lot of information comes out. You hardly ever use the Extranet due to shadow broker or to broadcast meetings." her mother told her.

"Well it's the fact I don't want to look more like a monster. I have mixed views on what people think about me, but they do not question my knowledge. It was painful to go through a whole meeting they wanted to know about mass relay tech upgrades the whole time. Only the Alliance was really interested in my technology." she told them.

"You do realize we are new to the galaxy my dear daughter. Everyone has worked with mass relay technology for hundreds of years. Besides at least the Alliance liked your ideas', they even gave a new contract to make war ships for them." Ayumi told her as Yoko sat up.

"I met as well conduct a proper meeting then rather than sulking about it. We are making a preparation plan for the upcoming invasion in the future against the Reapers as well. She told them as she sat up. "Our salvage team are cleaning up the wards and moving the salvage back to private facility as we speak. We already have scans on collected from Sovereign's main gun, shielding unit, partial memory core, and the metal hull. So since I'm ahead on the game, everyone else will try to replicate Geth technology. It's practically impossible to do since it's too massive." Yoko told them.

"Looking for new ways to make new technology to fight the Reapers' well we have studied the Sovereigns' remains and Rana Thanoptis. We are using the Psycho-frame to help study indoctrination device. We are trying to figure out ways to prevent such a thing from happening. We looked at the scans from the Thorian creeper incident and the Thorian itself. Since Matriarch Benezia's body could not be buried properly on Thessia. Dr. T'Soni sent her here mother's body here." Ayumi told her as Yoko looked confused.

"When did she send her body here?" Yoko asked.

"Right after the Rachni incident and she made no effort to take the body back even after the incident with Shepard's body. Rana Thanoptis reports and Benezia's scan show signs of long term indoctrination. We are working on possible methods to prevent indoctrination." Ayumi told her.

"Since we have studied Sovereigns' main gun, we actually came up with a new gun. Super MAC gun for planter defense budget, it yields more power than a standard MAC round by fives time the amount. Since we have Feros, Terra Nova, and Eden Prime on board it's a doable project. The Virmire project has gone under way, but STG teams noticed our efforts on the planet.

"Since my plan to have Virmire to place a secret base, we will use another planet in the Terminus system. We will colonize planet and turn it into a vacation spot instead." Yoko told them as she looked to Sarah. "Since my face and name was revealed to public as president. I can't have you as a representative full time anymore, but I decided since you have passion for fashion. You can have your own division just I like I promised." she told her as her friend jumped in joy as Yoko slid her own data pad.

"I finally get my division…" Sarah muttered as Richard shook his head. "You might as well get ready for the things to come. You might as well add fiber metal armored clothes in…" he said as she typed it in.

"I already placed that in my production list." she told him as Yoko turned to Elijah.

"So how did the recovery with the Normandy go Elijah?" she asked him as he shook his head.

"The recovery effort was a success and I noticed it was beam damage that destroyed the Normandy. The Kinetic barrier cannot block high level kinetic energy that adds mass. Hyaku Shiki's shields absorbed the damage than rather than deflecting it, so it made it out without any major damages. To solve issues with the current mass effect barrier it will need an oscillating barrier. It could also transition to the tech we make. But what are we going to do with ship? I know the Normandy was cut into sections and it's still salvageable." Elijah told her as she shrugged.

"Well we are going to rebuild the ship again, but better this time. We already know all the flaws to the Normandy. We will stick our technology inside and used the Mako's hull as reference to a new armor for star ships." Yoko told him.

"The Mako's hull was extremely resistant to heat and the cold. I suggest that the carbon nanofibers that the space elevator uses. It will take some time to actually reconstruct a ship and replace its technology." He told as she nodded.

"I understand that it will take some time. We have other projects running at the same time so have fun with the reconstruction. You can use the schematics' to build the repair drones to help along with the process. So Padock what have you been doing lately?" Yoko asked him.

"Well I studied the remains of Sovereign and I found a genetic signature." he said as they turned to him.

"Wait a minute ships don't heave genetic codes?" Elijah told him as he nodded.

"Correct and the DNA source came from a long forgotten race called Zeoiph. They are crypts built on a planet called Armeni." he told them.

"Are trying to tell us that the ship was composed of not just metal, it had a great multitude of DNA as well?" Sarah asked him as he nodded.

"It would have taken millions to make up the ship we called Sovereign." Padock told the, as Hope showed up on the computer.

"That reminds me of something… the recording with Sovereign said something like this." Hope told her as the recording played.

"_My kind transcends your understanding. We are each a nation, independent, free of all weakness. You cannot even grasp the nature of our existence." _I think the nation part refers to the fact that a race was combined with machine to make it." Hope told them.

"Well by my calculations if this happens every 50, 000 years and the fact one on Jartar was a billion years old. There would be dozens of race for each cycle; it would be technically hundreds of them by now." Ayumi noted.

"It seems that way, but at least we are ahead of the curve. Everyone believes the threat is over due to social engineering or the fact it that At least my government has realized they need to prepare just in case it true. The archeological team has made use of the VI named Vigil. We have discovered a new set of Prothean ruins on the planet." Padock told them as everyone looked interested.

"We have ruins dotted along the planet." Stark asked them as they nodded.

"We identified the number of other colonies and races that the Prothean studied. Ilos was mostly a secret research colony. Vigil has abundant source of information that everyone wants still." Ayumi told her as Yoko nodded.

"Well since we have a plan and some projects to do. This meeting is adjourned and I would like to talk Padock personally." she told them as everyone left the room. It only left the two of them there.

"You're going to reprimand me for telling my government about the projects being done here?" He asked as she nodded.

"I understand the duty to your people, but I didn't bring up some information on Shepard's body. I have a list that I collected from the Blue suns of colonies with population numbers. A group called the collectors' wanted the information badly, but Aria T'Loak ambushed them and killed them." she told him as he looked a bit serious.

"Collectors…" he murmured. "The Collectors are an enigmatic race that lives beyond the Omega 4 Relay, a mass relay within the same system as Omega, in the Terminus Systems. They are rarely seen in the Terminus itself, let alone Citadel space. They are generally regarded as a myth by Citadel citizens. Definite sightings of Collectors have been made on Omega every few centuries." he told her as she crossed her arms.

"What do they do exactly? I never heard of them until now?" Yoko asked Padock.

"They are most well known for their odd trade requests for which they offer new technologies, often of a startling level of advancement. Their requests usually involve the trade of living beings in odd numbers and varieties. They have a sudden interest in humanity… right after the battle of the Citadel. They wanted Commander Shepard' body and used the Shadow Broker to do it. I fear for the worst for Humanity then…" Padock told her as he tapped on Yoko's personal terminal bringing up a report on a colony.

"_The Athens colony had at least a hundred-thousand people and it resided in the Terminus System disappeared without a trace. It was like a ghost town and the Alliance has stated that slavers had done this." _

"I fear that all these events' are not a coincidence…" he told her as Yoko looked at Hope.

"I understand I'm sending out top priority notices to the colonies' to make sure they have automated AA guns and a security mechs online. I will send the list to the Alliance to make sure they know that possible slaver attacks." Hope told her.

"I want a rush on global defense plan and stations around the three planets." Yoko stated as Hope nodded.

"Eden Prime global defense is almost complete for Eden Prime. Feros and Terra Nova are around 25-35 percent completed. The Virmire colonization plan is underway as well and they trying to figure out how the elevators will work underwater." Hope told her as Yoko nodded.

"I will send the new designs on the underwater version personally. They will connect to other islands and other stations." Yoko told them as she looked at the population numbers. One colony dropped out of without a trace. Millions of lives were at stake and the only people who knew that was her and the 'Illusive Man'.

…

_Location Redacted_

_Cerberus base_

As the Illusive Man sat in his chair as he looked at the reports given to him. He saw Miranda come into being as she used the hologram communication. He took a drink as he nodded.

"Give me a report on the Lazarus project Miranda." TIM stated as she nodded.

"Due to the fact Shepard is brain dead it's taking some time to figure how we can restore it. We did it the natural reconstruction using medical records. The good thing about it all, that most of his brain is intact. But it would go faster if we had Dr. Minamoto…" She stated. "Nexus Corporation sent two people to guard her. We lost over fifteen men for a simple operation."

"Ayumi Minamoto knows a lot about the process and she could help bring the project up to speed. Yet it was failed attempt and now her daughter and husband know. We will not get another shot of trying to capture her so we will have to do it solo. They all know about Shepard's body is our possession as well." TIM told her as Miranda crossed her arms.

"Yoko Minamoto is becoming a problem for Cerberus, why can't we coerce someone to work for us?" Miranda asked him.

"It's because she knows the spy game and the black ops tricks. She even has ex-STG members keeping tabs on people. Her company was built on trust and not a résumé. She won't let anyone in unless they are interrogated thoroughly. Her company is on the rise doing major projects for the Alliance and doing personal projects as well. She has sent out a list of colonies that are going to be attack in the near future. The Athens colony has disappeared without a trace. It was one of the colonies on the list." he told her.

"So Humanity is under attack by the Collectors' and Reapers'?" Miranda asked.

"Miranda if Yoko Minamoto knows about it. She isn't going to sit around and do nothing at all. Yet she isn't going to rush in blindly into the situation. In the meantime we can't do the same as well. She may act first in trying to save the colonies by making a prevention plan or set up a clever trap. Our goals are the same in the end, but we need to focus on reviving Shepard." he told her as she nodded.

"Since normal reconstruction is too slow, we will use biosynthesis process to speed it up. I also want to implant a control chip into Shepard's brain." she stated as he looked a bit outraged.

"I do not want a control chip inside Shepard's head." he stated.

"But sir, it he most likely…" she said as he shook his head.

"No Miranda, no control chip is going to be planted in his head. It will affect his personality and abilities'. Even if Dr. Minamoto was here she will even say no to your proposal. Get Wilson to help you with the project. He is excellent tech and medical officer as your assistant." TIM told her as she nodded.

"Understood, I will send you daily reports on our progress." she said as communications was cut as the Illusive Man patched in verbal comm. channel.

"This is Paul Grayson here…" Paul told him as TIM smiled.

"It's good to see you're doing well Mr. Grayson, but I will have a special set of instructions and medicine I want to pass on to our contact in the Ascension plan. This will take place in two months." he told him.

"I will be ready by then and I can't wait to see my daughter Gillian." he told him.

"Very well then, but I have other assignments' I need you to complete first." he told him.

"Understood, I will await further orders." Grayson told him as the link cut off as the 'Illusive man' looked at the report about Quarian people.

"50, 000 star ships to the Alliance dreadnoughts'. Even if Yoko Minamoto is helping design quality ships for them. She made friends and ties to their people and yet I don't know a thing about them. They drop off exiles and maybe I should get one to even the score." he said as he looked at a report on Omega about a Quarian named Golo.

…

Meanwhile as Yoko sat at home on Eden Prime itself and her mansion as she stayed in bed. She looked to see that Kahlee Sanders was online as they sat up a video chat. Yoko wore black white tank top as she saw Kahlee Sanders was wearing normal clothes for once.

"I'm sorry that I called you this late at night. I forgot Eden Prime and Elysium are in two different time zones." Kahlee told her as Yoko shrugged.

"I really don't mind the call Kahlee-san. Do you need something from me?" Yoko asked her

"I want to say thank you for donating to the academy. The Alliance budget has moved over to Galatic defense lately." Kahlee told her.

"True, I'm building ships for the Alliance now and David Anderson is overseeing the project." Yoko told her.

"It's been a while since I seen David in person; I heard he was being promoted again. So that's where the money shifted over to. You never seen the Academy before yet you donate money to it. Would you like to come teach over at the Academy for a while?" Kahlee asked her.

"I have assignment with the council that takes me into the Terminus system…" Yoko muttered.

"I know you helped developed the L4 implant design for the academy years ago. You can really teach and show what biotics can do in the real world. Don't make me call your mother to get you to go the Academy Yoko." Kahlee told her as Yoko's turned her head a little.

"Why choose me then? I know Kaiden Alenko is a biotic and from the Alliance." Yoko asked her.

"The Ascension project isn't just for the military it's also for civilians. I know that you love science, math, and the liberal arts Yoko. Even to the point you do hand paint and cell color technique art. Everyone else use digital technology to do art." Kahlee told her as Yoko shrugged. "You really don't like teaching children…"

"I can't relate to children at all you do realize that. I was taught how to use a gun by soldiers and to be smarter than most adults. I killed more thousands of Turian before nine years old. So yes I would be hesitant to the very idea of it. I never had much of a child hood and I acted like adult way before my age." Yoko explained.

"True your child hood isn't what most people expected. But you participated in the Olympics and won the gold in gymnastics and swim team for Japan. Plus you were trained by Asari commandos and a matriarch as well. So you have a lot experience and biotic training already. Some of your findings even helped create the Ascension project. Plus Dr. Jiro Toshiwa wanted to meet you in person as well…" Kahlee told her as Yoko turned her head.

"I hope you didn't tell any secrets to that man…" Yoko told her as Kahlee laughed.

"No I didn't, but he only knows off your public achievements Yoko. I would never tell your secrets' and as soon as your done with your mission. Come visit the academy please…" Kahlee pleaded as Yoko nodded.

"Soon as I'm done with my mission for the council I will come see you personally." she told her.

"I will be waiting and please do not wear that armor of yours and your weapons. This is supposed to be a family setting at the academy, but you can your non-lethal project with you."Kahlee told her.

"I don't leave my weapons behind Kahlee-san…" she told her.

"True, but you close combat expert and you can turn anything to a weapon. We have stun guns that Aldrin Labs made for us to subdue students. We haven't had incident where we had to use a stun gun on a student." Kahlee told her.

"I will see you later Kahlee-san." Yoko told her.

"Good night Yoko." Kahlee told her as the link cut off. She turned to Hope who popped up.

"Is there any news on Keiji and Kasumi?" Yoko asked her.

"Not a word from any of them… I even checked the Shadow Broker channels to see that his gray box is a hot item. He has a high chance of dying due to the gray box and I can't get him to reply back. Kasumi well she is looking for him as well." Hope told her as Yoko put up her personal terminal.

"Well I'm going to bed Hope, keep me posted on any new developments…" Yoko yawned.

"Good night sleepy head and I will give you an update as soon as you wake up." she told her as avatar faded Yoko drifted off to sleep.


	3. The Academy

_One month later…_

_Petra Nebula/ Vetus system_

_Elysium Orbit/ Jon Grissom Academy_

_September 10, 2183_

…

Hyaku Shiki flew in the system they blue planet that looked like Earth itself. A medium size station with a T-shape was near the orbit of Elysium. Yoko sat in the cockpit as she was making preparation to dock with the station. She tied a ponytail on the left side of her head. She wore a red pleated skirt lined with black lace, a white sleeveless dress shirt, a semi-transparent sweeper in the same style of the shirt, black knee socks, and ivory ankle boots. The comm. channel came online as she made her approach.

"_This is Jon Grissom Academy's traffic control. State your name and the reason you came to the Academy. If you cannot give any credentials' we will have Alliance ships in route to our position." _he told her as she turned her radio.

"This is the pilot of Hyaku Shiki, Doctor Yoko Minamoto. Spectre of the Citadel council and I was asked to come here by Kahlee Sanders." Yoko replied.

"_The director…" _he mumbled as the radio shifted a bit. _"You have been approved for entry and we welcome you to Jon Grissom Academy Dr. Minamoto. Ms. Sanders will be waiting for you by the air lock." _he told her as she piloted her ship into the docking lane. The magnetic arms attached to the ship. Yoko got up from her seat as she picked up her backpack and black purse as she made way to the air lock. The decontamination unit ran over her body and items as the door opened up. She walked out the air lock as walked forward to see it a lot of people were in the station. She saw families were reuniting with their kids and some making conversation with each other. She looked around for a moment to see a blonde hair woman in the crowd. She turned to see Kahlee walking up to her.

"Yoko it's good to see you made it here. I see that you dressed up rather nicely." Kahlee told her as they hugged each other.

"Well Sarah made it for me. She always wanted to try her hand at fashion. So you're the director of the Academy, I didn't expect that." Yoko told her as they broke the hug.

"I'm one of director's to the academy Yoko. So let's your stuff checked in by security first." she told her as they walked along the way.

"I feel more comfortable if a man didn't check my stuff." she told her as she nodded.

"I understand since you have some personal stuff in your bag." as they made it up to the security point. She saw laid her bags down for the female officer to check her things. She turned her a bit to see a man walking this way. He was tall with a muscular chest and arms, rusty-brown hair and light brown skin. Kahlee turned to him as she turned to introduce him.

"I see you already noticed our head Security Chief already. This is Hendel Mitra and Hendel this is Yoko Minamoto my god daughter." she told him as Yoko bowed to him.

"So this is your god daughter, she is so much taller in person." he said as they shook hands with each other as he noticed her strong grip.

"It's nice to meet you." she told him as he let go of her hand. Hendel looked over to officer at hand looked at every object in her bags'.

"She is cleared, but we need to run a scan on her for more items." the woman officer told her as she went up to give her pat down.

"I'm surprised to see you're cooperating with the rules instead of using your Spectre status." Hendel told her.

"Just because I have it, doesn't mean I abuse the rules or hurt innocent people. I was taught to do better and this nothing compared to a Batarian prison." she told them as they looked at her as she shrugged.

"What's the difference?" he asked her.

"You have to fight your way out of the compound unarmed. If you can get past them then your set free. The process they go by is they strip you bear and then beat you until they can't move. Then torture you for information and if you're a woman it's much worse." she told them.

"You have to forgive her for being so blunt. She is like her mother in so many ways it's scary." Kahlee told Hendel as he seemed a bit disturbed as the scan and pat down began. He pulled Kahlee to the side to talk to her.

"Kahlee she maybe your goddaughter, but looking at her background it isn't kid friendly. Hell she probably can throw a data pad at someone and kill them. She killed 3000 Turian's at a young age with a giant death machine and she already had college degrees in hand. She can't handle children or relate to them." he told her as Yoko heard his muttered words as she looked at him now.

"You're wrong about her Hendel this is the type of person that can understand the children. They children are all different. She was different from most children and looked up to a dream. The children here need outlets and the help to go further to gain their own future. She made her own future by working for it. She had a deadly defect at birth due to element zero exposure her mother gained on Mars. She learned from the best of the best in the biotic field as well. She helped practically build the Academy itself because her tech ideas. She came in good faith not carrying weapons on her and abides by the rules. She is not monster many portray, but only to her enemies." Kahlee protested as Hendel nodded.

"Understood ma'am, but do I have to give her a stun gun." He told her as she nodded.

"She is our special guest teacher and she needs some form of a weapon. She might tinker around with so bring some extra parts. I will show her around the Academy for the time being. She will be teaching Gillian's class for a while." Kahlee told her as they finished the search as they gave her stuff bags' back to Yoko.

"She's cleared." she told her as Hendel walked off towards a security check point.

"Let me show you around the station a bit. This is the waiting area where parents can meet students when they come in. The parents can also come in visit the children when they find the time to come." Kahlee told her as they walked along the facility. "We have functioning class rooms, boarding, cafeteria, hospital, tech lab, recreational facilities for the academy. We teach math, science, and Liberal arts at the school, but for bioitcs it's a different story. We help train them and maximize their potential in the field. Then we can help them integrate themselves into human society." Kahlee told her as they walked around the facility.

"It's the complete opposite of what BAaT has done (Biotic Acclimation Temperance training)." Yoko told her as she nodded. "Hendel Mitra came from BAaT just like Lieutenant Alenko."

"Correct, his experience at BAaT makes him more determined to protect the children." she told her as Hendel caught up with her.

"Director, I brought a spare stun gun from the security office along with spare parts." Hendel told her.

"Thank you Hendel." Kahlee told him. He gave her a box as she passed it off to Yoko.

"You do realize flash bangs are just as effective as a stun gun." Yoko told them.

"Military grade flash bangs are not cheap. They can also hurt the students' ear drums and eyesight. So please do not use this gun unless you have to. We have never used it on a student before." Kahlee told her as she nodded.

"Who is Dr. Jiro Toshiwa Kahlee-san? You never answered my question a month ago." Yoko told her as Hendel seemed put off. Kahlee looked a bit shocked. "Let me guess it's some relationship that's not really serious."

"Well you seem to be some type of psychic. He is doctor just like you, but he works in medical wing most of the time." he said as Yoko nodded as they stopped in front of a room. "This is the room you will be stay at until your leave. We still have to show you your class room and the rest of the facility." Kahlee told her as her Omni-tool lit up.

"Let me guess a board meeting is about to begin." Yoko told Kahlee as she nodded. She handed Yoko a data pad to look at.

"This data pad contains everything you need to know about the academy. Mr. Mitra will show you around the facility and give a security clearance to pass through areas'." Kahlee told her as she rushed off.

"I see you don't trust me or Dr. Toshiwa." Yoko explained as he looked a bit shock.

"How did you…?" Hendel asked her as she pointed at her ears.

"I'm very good listener, but let's continue our tour first." Yoko told him as she placed her private things in a locker first. She walked out locking the room up as she carried her backpack. She placed her stun gun in her backpack as they walked along now.

"So you noticed that as soon as you mention his name. I don't have a problem with Japanese people at all. Your background is hardly kid friendly. You grew up around with scientists and soldiers' for your childhood. You've only went to college with grown people who was at least three times your age. Then the incident on Shanxi and then the one on Torfan, it screams danger." Hendel noted as she nodded.

"True, my background is hardly kid friendly, but I had a hard time integrating with society myself. Soon as I woke up from cyro, people were bending over to technology they found instead of inventing their own. This is a new experience for me, I never taught children before. So I have to leave my harsh military behind a bit. Let's go back to the fact why you don't trust Dr. Toshiwa." Yoko asked him.

"That man is using Kahlee's trust to stay here. A relationship that has gone about 2178 and nothing has happened." he told her as Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"That long without any real progress… relationships like that fail. It's due to no one making some type of move. How is demeanor time to time?" she asked him.

"He seems friendly, good natured man with a sense of humor. Yet something isn't right about him." he said.

"It sounds like a spy to me. He always puts up a front for everyone and get close to a person high up on the chain." she told him as she looked at him.

"Come on, I know I don't trust him at all. But you're taking a big leap saying he is a spy." Hendel told her.

"I was best black ops agent in the Alliance. The STG and the Salarian Union know that I'm extremely good at that. I can spot out a spy in a heartbeat without even doing a back ground check. Yet I will be open minded towards him, but does he have a favorite here." she asked him.

"Gillian Grayson…" he told her.

"What's so special about her?" Yoko asked him as they passed by several students as the male students stared at her.

"She shows promising biotic ability early on, but she has a high functioning autism. Your teaching a class that's unique it's self, but Gillian has some issues." Hendel told her as Yoko nodded.

"High functioning autism, so she can do everything like a normal person, but interact with people." she told him as he nodded.

"She is prone to silence, and she is highly sensitive to social interaction, physical contact, with occasional bursts of sociability. Her autism is getting worse, but I'm surprised to see she will interact with some of the staff." he told her.

"So what am I teaching to the students?" Yoko asked as she looked at her data pad.

"Your teaching the children how integrate into society? Teaching them the things you know and help training them in their biotic potential. Dr. Toshiwa will be there as well to oversee your teaching skills." he told her.

"A doctor that does mostly medical work will be monitoring me." Yoko questioned him.

"Well since you are teaching the class. Maybe your spy theory will pan out." he told her as they walked to a class room to see children sitting down. There was a fit Asian man in the room with dyed red hair. He was laughing along with the children in the room. Hendel knocked on the door before opening it. Yoko walked in as a blue mist surrounded her. She waved her hand forward as she pushed forward. She placed her open hand out and she caught water balloon.

"It seems your right about the jokes Mr. Mitra." she told them as Hendel and the others looked a bit shocked.

"How did you do that?" one kid asked.

"Do what?" Yoko asked them.

"You used your biotics to move your body." he stated as Jiro clapped his hands.

"Well that's impressive feat doctor, only Asari can do a biotic dash." Jiro told her as she threw the water balloon to Hendel. She stood in front of the class now.

"Well is the special guest teacher Director Sander's talked about. This is Yoko Minamoto the president of Nexus Corporation. The Ascension project is based on the majority of her work here and she will educate you on how to integrate into society. Just hope she doesn't branch out into science and math." he told them as they laughed a bit. Yoko bowed to them.

"Thank you all for having me here." she told them as she rose up. "You will call me Minamoto-sensei. Sensei means master or teacher in my language. It also addresses other types of jobs like my position as doctor. I would like to say this before we start. This is thinking towards the future and thinking outside the box itself. Respect and understanding everyone here as well as their personal opinions." she told them.

"You are really serious about your heritage, I thought it was Kahlee coming into the room for a moment." he said as Yoko eyed him.

"You do realize you're both shorter than me, plus I'm dirty blonde." she told them as the children laughed.

"Very funny doctor, I admit that I'm short. But I bet you came here without a teaching plan." Jiro told her as Hendel walked away.

"Well you're wrong about that Toshiwa-sensei. I plan on doing fun activity so I can get to know you all better." she told them as she opened up a bag full of art supplies. "I bought a lot of art supplies for the class to use. I want you do artistic portrait of your future job or dream. Then you have to sign it on the back with your name." she told them as she sorted them out onto the desk.

"So you're using art to help introduce yourself to the children. It seems like you took account of the kids with autism in our class." Jiro told her as she nodded.

"I will be doing a personal portrait myself and show how it's done. So all you can grab your own art supplies and bring them back to your seat. You will write about your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dream on the back of your art. If you have any questions for me please do ask me." she told them as he children rushed up to the desk as he boys stared at her as they blushed a bit. The girls giggled at them as they grabbed their art supplies.

Yoko looked to see one girl was silent the whole time. She was taller than most the girls in the class. She had long raven black hair and brown eyes. She looked at Yoko as she Yoko looked at her. She looked away, but she found no words left her mouth. She looked down to see she wrote her name on a piece of paper. Her name was written in kanji and English. She looked back at her as she slowly took the piece of paper way from her. She grabbed her art supplies and made her way back to her seat.

"That was unusual; Gillian doesn't stare at people like that." Jiro muttered as Yoko shrugged. "So Hendel told you about her condition already." he asked her as Yoko set up a portrait for her painting.

"Even if she doesn't communicate with me, it's better to be acknowledged than ignored." she told them as she began to paint her idea on paper.

"Minamoto-sensei you're a biotic just like us. What type of implants do you use?" one boy asked her.

"Your name is?" Yoko asked him.

"Nick Donahue." he replied.

"Nick, I don't use implants to do my biotic moves." she told them as the children looked in disbelieve along with Dr. Toshiwa.

"You can't be serious everyone uses implants and bio amps. You used a high level biotic move that only Asari can do." Jiro reasoned as she shrugged.

"Than just do a quick scan…" Yoko told him as he waved his hand over her neck. He more shocked now than before.

"You don't have implants like the rest of the children, let alone every human biotic ever to come. How can you do such a thing with implants?" he asked her.

"That's a trade secret that people will never understand." she told them.

"My name is Brianna Perry, and I would like know did where did you get your clothes from?" she asked her as she looked down.

"My childhood friend Sarah Stark made this for me. I recently let her take up fashion division for my company. It's something I normally wear on a daily basis, it looks to cute for me." Yoko explained.

"So you're the Nightmare of Shanxi, do you have Nightmare docked here? Can we pilot it?" Nick asked her.

"I would have to say no to pilot it and yes it's here. It's not child's toy after all, the first one was created just for fun. It can hurt people just as much save peoples' lives." she told them as another boy raised his hand.

My name is Shesuan Minamoto-sensei. I would like to know what type of work you did before you left the Alliance." he asked her.

"That's classified and I can't tell you anything about my work in the Alliance." she told him as he seemed put down.

"Come on you must have one little mission that's not sensitive." he told her as she shrugged she knew this man was digging for something.

"Well I can't say what went on, but I can tell you the work I was into. I was into black ops and special operations. I worked with Asari commandos' at one point in time. I even trained with them for a period of time. I learned a lot of biotic tricks from them." she told them.

"You trained with Asari commandos'. What was the training like?" Brianna asked her.

"It was grueling and extensive. I was also training with the Matriarch as well. You wake up right before the sun comes up and you do not eat anything let alone drink anything. You would extensive calisthenics and long distance running on a timer. Doing a number of biotic exercises even lifting objects that are several tons with my mind. When you finally get to eat and drink you have to use your bitoics still help you eat. After two weeks with them I got the hang of it, but I hardly use my biotic talent to solve my problems in a firefight." she told them.

"You hardly use any of biotic abilities in battle why?" Brianna asked her.

"Using your biotic talent maybe a great way to deal with enemies, but over using your abilities will because you will be dead tired. Since we are on this topic, biotic moves should not replace physical skills and abilities, nor you should use it to hurt people." she told them as they listened up.

"Biotic power may seem like a special gift, but it's not. It doesn't help you with job or the things you love in life. Using biotic moves will too much will cause you too mentally shut down for a while. It's based on how mentally strong you are." she told them.

"Gillian Grayson has the strongest biotic potential…" Jiro told her as she shook her head.

"Everyone thinks the strongest always lives and get the best things. Gillian not truly special and I don't understand why people elevate others. Every child is special in their own way and which many people neglect. Gillian does have a strong mind and a will behind it. At best she is average biotic user by your reports." she told them as she sat down the data pad. The children looked a bit happier now.

"Then how strong are you? Jiro asked her.

"Well it's been a while since I used my powers." she told them as she closed her eyes for a moment. She raised one hand up as she glow a vibrant blue mist color. The children in the room lifted up all at the same time along with the doctor Toshiwa. All their art supplies floated in the room as the doctor looked around.

"This many…" Jiro muttered as he noticed he was free floating now. She lowered her other hand down to place the art supplies back down.

"As you can see control is the real power essence to biotic power. I will myself to do it and control the way I know." she told them as some swam like they were in water. The noticed the blue mist covering their bodies. She lowered them back to their seats as they were smiling.

"That was impressive… do you think the children can do this trick?" Jiro asked him.

"I only saw Matriarch Benezia do this trick and she said only matriarchs' can do this trick. So I answered enough a lot of questions for now, but please continue with your art." she told them.

Hour later as Yoko was looking at her painting. She saw Kahlee come into the room know.

"I never seen the children so focused before even Gillian seems to be having fun with this." Kahlee told her.

"I didn't know your goddaughter was such a powerful biotic." Dr. Toshiwa told her as she laughed.

"So she showed her biotic abilities' to the children already. I have to admit she rarely uses her power. It's on same level as Asari Matriarch and she doesn't use implants to do use her biotic moves. It's amazing in itself and I always wonder how that's possible. Even Asari use biotic amps and Matriarchs' are the only ones that don't need it." Kahlee told her Yoko remotely got rid f the information on his Omni-tool.

"How is first day with your sensei?" Kahlee asked them as she got a positive response as she smiled. "It seems like you're like you're a hit with the children already."

"True, so it's time for them to switch up classes already." Yoko asked her as she nodded as the kids moaned.

"Correct, but I see the children don't want to leave the class room." Kahlee told her as she nodded.

"Ok class, for your homework for tomorrow. I want to know your favorite biotic move is. If you can write a full paper and do some art to go along with it. I will make an ice cream cake for all of you for the ones who can complete the assignment." she told as their faces lit up. "Not store bought cake a homemade kind done from scratch. I will hand it out to you during lunch tomorrow and I will make sure you will get two pieces each. So you can take the art supplies I gave you. There are yours to keep after all." she told them.

"You haven't showed your painting to us sensei." Brianna told her as she nodded as it showed the battle of the Citadel. Hyaku Shiki stood on a piece of debris from an Alliance ship.

"It may not be something about my future, but I wish that my inventions are more accepted by the Galaxy." she told them as they children handed in their portraits. Some were noteworthy as she set them aside. The only one still working was Gillian as Yoko stared at her.

"Gillian…" she said softly as she was in her own world. Yoko raised her finger up as it glow vibrant blue. Gillian looked at her brush floating. She caught it and looked up at Yoko. Yoko got up and walked to her desk to clean up the mess.

"Minamoto-sensei, I'm finished…" Gillian said softly as the two were a bit shocked as Yoko nodded. She turned her portrait around for them to see. It was a big portrait of Yoko in critical stages of her life on the canvas. It started as her as a little girl with Nightmare on Shanxi. Then the Alliance with her first white armor on, she had a sword in hand on Torfan. Then she saw her feats on Thessia as well as the battle of the Citadel. It also showed her here in the class room painting. Yoko smiled as got up to her back pack. She pulled out more art supplies for Gillian.

"So you love art a lot Gillian. You can keep art supplies ones you used and this as well." she told her as softly as possible. She laid on it her desk to take as she looked at it.

"Thank you." she told her as she grabbed her art supplies as Yoko gave her a note with her homework assignment. She waved hello to Kahlee and Jiro before leaving out the room.

"She never spoke to a stranger before…" Kahlee told her as Yoko shrugged.

"It's the fact that people don't know how to relate to people. I chose to not to speak loud or not speak at all at times. I never physically touch her and allowed her to give speak first." Yoko told them.

"It seems like she treats Gillian's autism like some research specimen." Dr. Toshiwa told her.

"Well it's only mental condition, I wonder if I can use the psycho frame to fix her mind." Yoko muttered as she looked up. "So what is next assignment?" Yoko asked her.

"Well you will need to show up recreation time and biotic training later in the day." Kahlee told her as she nodded as Yoko looked at the painting.

"I'm keeping Gillian's painting, it's so wonderful painting." Yoko told them.

"I can't wrap my around the fact that Gillian talked to her." Dr. Toshiwa muttered.

"So Yoko you plan on making home ice cream cake for the class." Kahlee told her as Yoko nodded.

"At least two slices a person so I have to make sure there are pieces of cake." Yoko told her as she gathered her things together. "I will see you later than Kahlee-san." she told her as she walked out the room with paintings."

…

It was getting around afternoon as Yoko sat there in a seiza on the mat in the gym. As she watched the children play basketball using their biotics to get the ball to goal. The only one not playing around with the others was Gillian. She was painting again and she already did her homework and passed into her. She looked to see it was a simple biotic move called throw. She functions almost like a normal human being. She lacked interaction and communicating with other people. She looked to see the other children were quite eager to receive ice cream. They turned in the homework assignments' already to her. She heard a person walk up behind her now.

"Coming to check on me Kahlee-san?" Yoko asked as she turned her head to see she was a bit shock.

"How did you know it was me? Let alone how come you're whole family does that." Kahlee told her as Yoko shrugged. Kahlee sat beside her now in a chair as she looked at Gillian.

"It seems like Gillian has the talent to paint." Kahlee noted.

"I don't see why you're here for the kids, but you do not treat them the same." Yoko told her as she laughed.

"Well Gillian is special and she has autism. I'm amazed by the fact she actually talk to you on the first day." she told her.

"If you want children with autism to interact with people, why don't you give them an animal to play with?" Yoko asked her.

"Your joking right, an animal on the station would be a problem?" Kahlee asked Yoko.

"Well you have blind kids on the station as well and children with autism respond well to animals. I will buy the children a Labrador retriever so it can help her interact with people. I can help them take responsibility and be independent with an animal. Everyone wants to help the children and then teach them to be independent is hard task itself." she told him.

"I see that your thinking hasn't changed at all. True, it's difficult making the transition over to a normal live and Gillian will have the hardest time. This is the reason why I called you out the Academy. On your first day here the students like you." Kahlee told her.

"Well it's better to use positive reinforcement to help motivate people. Like offering incentives to be good, but Nick seems like a bully of them." she told her as she watched him push someone over with a biotic push. Yoko raised her hand up as she pushed him to the floor as well. "Nick Donahue the next you think of pushing someone down with your biotic power. I will throw you next time with my biotic power." she stated as he nodded.

"Ok Minamoto-sensei, I understand." he told her as his friend Seshuan laughing as Yoko glared at him.

"So you have the children playing basket ball with their biotics instead of teaching them how to control it." Kahlee asked her.

"Basketball is about control itself and precession. So what do the other teachers' do teach them how to use it right?" Yoko asked her.

"They teach them how to use their biotic power mostly and not to abuse it."

"A western philosophy, what good is power if you can't hit a thing. I was trained by matriarch Benezia to control my powers and know when use them. Gillian shows the worse possible talent in biotic potential and despite Nick's silliness. He has the best ability in the class itself right next to Brianna." Yoko stated as Kahlee looked a bit shocked.

"Nick, is the best with biotic potential?" Kahlee asked her as Yoko nodded.

"You see his childish antics don't hurt people at all. He learned how to control his power before any other child in this room. What people fail to see is the fact that every child wants to be recognized for their achievements. I didn't hate their art and I plan on keeping them afterwards. You incite jealously and unfairness by devoting yourself to one child. If you say you're for the children then it must reflect the whole group." she told her.

"Why did Gillian talk to you?" Kahlee asked her.

"It's quite simple I gave her a reason to speak to me. A child with autism doesn't communicate well with others. She wants to express herself thoughts with art and possibly she likes my armor. It's due the fact she doesn't like being touch by strangers. The fact you have to respond differently and teach different to gain her attention." Yoko told her as Gillian came up to her.

"Do you need anything Gillian?" Yoko asked her as she nodded.

"Can I have more art supplies?" she asked her as Yoko nodded. She handed her more art supplies to her.

"Gillian, can you tell me a bit about your father?" Yoko asked her as Gillian thought a little about it.

"Pilot." she said bluntly.

"I see than, but who does he work for?" she asked.

"Cord Hislop Aerospace, he works as a sales rep for the company." Kahlee told her as Gillian nodded as Yoko remained a bit happy.

"You can go back and play with your art, but do you want anything else?" Yoko asked.

"Armor, I want to wear armor." Gillian replied as Yoko turned her head as she pressed her tact-pad. She showed what Quarian armor looked like and her zero. Gillian nodded as Yoko turned off her tact-pad.

"Well, I grant gifts to good children, but soon as you get it. You have to promise me to talk to other children more. Otherwise I will take the suit away." Yoko told her as Gillian nodded.

"I promise."

"Soon as I'm done with the ice cream cakes, I will make you a red suit then." she told her as she nodded. She went back to her little area as Yoko turned back to her work. She was modifying the stun gun to her standards. It didn't have a normal round barrel anymore. It was a polygon shape that was cut in half and the width of the gun was changed. It had a laser underneath the gun now that had a red light to help guide it. The barrel had electric blue gun icon to show the charge level. It was small than normal predator pistol everyone got. It was mostly a steel color with stylized black trigger mechanism and a stylized golden hilt with flower imprints on it. She had her tools neatly in order as she placed them back up

"I see you already modified the stun gun in our tech lab." Kahlee noted as she nodded.

"Of course it had a horrible charge rate and it will never bring down a person properly. It was too ugly to hold on to as well. I dislike the use of mass relay tech in such a gun." Yoko told her as it folded it up.

"Did you modify the gun for another purpose?" Kahlee asked her as Yoko shrugged.

"I wanted to add a whip to it and some sort of tether beam." she told her.

"I see that then so will this be part of your personal weapons?" Kahlee asked her as she nodded. "Then you should call it the 'Paralyzer' then since you can't name things properly." Kahlee joked as she laughed.

"Very funny Kahlee-san, I can name my projects and weapons now. I already named it Paralyzer." she told her as she showed the barrel as she nodded.

"The directors really liked your teaching style today, they would like you to extend to other classes with different age groups." as Yoko turned her head.

"It looks like I'm going to be here for a while, but if the council calls me for business. I will have to leave." Yoko announced as Kahlee nodded.

"I know you still have work for the council. So what is your impression about Dr. Toshiwa?" she asked her.

"My impression is that he wants to know everything. Then a relationship with you that goes nowhere and it sounds like he is using you." Yoko told her.

"Who told you that?" Kahlee asked her as she whirled her finger around.

"Everyone here knows that and it's not a secret Kahlee-san. It sounds like doom relationship from the start and a fake to me." Yoko bluntly stated.

"Is this about the fact he never asked to marry me?" she asked as Yoko nodded.

"I have an ability to point out who doesn't belong in certain places. If you don't want to hear what I have to say that's fine, but I will at least tell you what I feel. He is a spy and he is using your relationship just to gain the information he needs. He focuses his effort too much on Gillian and yet he doesn't know about the other children. When I ask him about the other children he doesn't say know anything about them. Dr. Toshiwa has worked here at the academy ever since the year 2178 Yoko told her as they saw him coming. "If you don't believe me let's have little test then." she announced as he made it here.

"I see that our guest teacher really fits in with the kids'. I surprised to see Gillian is taking up art." Jiro told.

"Why do you care about so much about Gillian? There are other children here with the same problem as her." Yoko as he was a bit taken back.

"Well it's because her father doesn't see her often and he is always working." Jiro told them.

"You know she doesn't like all to interact with people. But what do you know about Brianna and Nick?" Yoko asked.

"I really don't know much about them in general, but Nick is a trouble maker and a bully." Jiro told him as Yoko shrugged.

"So who places a bad influence on him?" she asked him as he seemed a bit confused.

"I don't know very much about the children in a collective matter." he told her as he saw Gillian waving at him. "Well it seems like Gillian wants me to see her art work. Excuse me for the moment, while I tend to Gillian" He told the two women as he walked away.

"Who causes Nick to get into trouble a lot?" Yoko asked Kahlee.

"It's always Seshuan getting him into trouble when they use their biotics against each other. I don't understand why he doesn't know the children that stay in Gillian's classroom. He visits her the most and it doesn't make sense at all…" Kahlee murmured.

"This is just my personal opinion though so don't mind me. Don't tell him about our little conversation about him" She told Kahlee as the bell rang. Yoko got up as she placed her things in her bag. "It's almost lunch time now and I want you all go clean up and pack up now." she told them.

"_My goddaughter always talks about some outrageous stuff before, but Jiro isn't a spy. I know Yoko was chosen to be a black ops specialist for the Alliance. She knows a lot about people due to her odd behavior of studying people. Even the STG teams call here brilliant and well trained. Never mind I will just focus on what's going on now in my life._

Kahlee turned her head to see that Dr. Toshiwa was carrying Gillian's art supplies'. Gillian walked along beside him for a while until she saw a Yoko was forming a line. She ran forward to get in line as she inspected them.


	4. Unseen Enemy

_One month later… _

_After Yoko Minamoto came to the Jon Grissom Academy_

It was really early that morning as she sat down in her personal quarters. She wore a white and pink sleeves shirt, dark blue skirt, knee-high heeled boots, and she had a white scarf wrapped around her neck. She finally finished her grading the papers already as she working on her new gun called the 'Paralzyer'. She was working on another that had a foldable blade coming out of it. She heard a knock on the door a she looked at her personal terminal to see it was Kahlee. She pressed the button to release the lock on the door.

Kahlee walked into the room to see her goddaughter made another gun from scratch. She shook her head a little as she laughed.

"I'm amazed to the fact you can turn scrap into actual working items. You took the liberty of using our tech lab and the Kitchen to make some things." Kahlee told her as Yoko shrugged.

"It's not my fault everyone here is so wasteful. I remembered that the Alliance just wasted resources' and never recycled them properly. Then Omni-gel hit the scene to change the whole ordeal about no lost resources. Yet there it doesn't solve every problem out there with cutting edge technology. Besides it's not complete gun just yet. I was making something to pass the time since I have the weekend off from teaching and I have no major work from my company. So what is so important that you have to visit me this early in the morning?" Yoko asked her.

"Well it's the fact that we have some parents coming in to visit their children. Since you're our guest teacher they would like to meet you in person. All the students you talked to were really happy to tell their parents about you by rewarding kids for good behavior by giving them gifts. But I would like for you to come meet the parents that are coming in today." Kahlee told her as she put up her prototype gun. She picked up a magnetic gun holster and she strapped it around her thigh. She attached the gun to her holster and she pulled down her skirt to hide.

"Well I want to get some breakfast first before I even talk to the parents." Yoko told her as Kahlee nodded.

"Let's go then, but lock up before you leave." she told her as her goddaughter pressed her tact-pad to sync to her personal terminal. She walked along with Kahlee as she headed out the door towards the cafeteria.

…

_Petra Nebula/ Vetus system_

A shuttle was flying heading towards Jon Grissom Academy as tall man with dark brown hair and brown eyes man drove the shuttle. His eyes were bloodshot red that eyes and his teeth were luminous as he was muttering to himself. He looked at the grey suit he was wearing as he checked it for a moment. He looked over to see two hypodermic needles containing an unknown formula to him.

I never get the chance to visit Gillian a lot due to my job. The Illusive Man sent me out to the Jon Grissom Academy and hand of the experimental biotic-enhancing serums." he told himself as he drove his shuttle.

"Then there's the fact that Yoko Minamoto is on the station itself. It makes even harder to do the trade off. Agent Lawson was compromised and I'm forced to use my cover as a sales rep from Cord Hislop Aerospace. I don't know what to do, but I don't want to use red sand." he said as he pulled out a bag containing red sand he scooped up some as he sniffed it. He got a high as he leaned his head back as he shook a little. He tried composing himself as he shook his head.

"If there was a problem with the serum I will know about it. Gillian will be the savior of Humanity. Just like Yoko Minamoto did back on Shanxi. She can't prove anything without any evidence. I just need to keep calm and play it off." he told himself as he was heading towards the docking bay.

…

_10:00 A.M._

She noticed Dr. Toshiwa was here along with Hendel Mitra for meeting with Gillian's father. She looked over to Kahlee now as she crossed her arms now.

"Why is Dr. Toshiwa here along with you Kahlee-san? Is there something you didn't inform me about Mr. Grayson?" Yoko asked her as Kahlee didn't say a word. Yoko turned all the way to Hendel. "Maybe you have the courage to say the truth here Mr. Mitra." she asked him.

"It's the fact he is a drug addict and he shouldn't even be near Gillian at all." Hendel told her bluntly.

"Hendel the man has problems', but he hasn't hurt Gillian at all." Kahlee told him.

"Well don't make me step in declare my Spectre status. If you know the person is a drug addict he shouldn't even see their children. I know damn well that's actual law that you have to follow." she told them as she looked it up the law.

"Gillian needs this visit with her father. She doesn't see her father at all for at months at a time." Dr. Toshiwa reasoned.

"She doesn't need a drug addict as a father then. The real problem here is the fact he isn't in her life. He created social and emotional abuse for leaving here all alone. So throw your bull shit out the window for the moment. If he is clear drug addict I will step and tell him to leave personally. Hendel please do a full body search of this man as well. He might be carrying drugs with him and I want to do a shuttle check." Yoko stated as Hendel nodded.

"You're going to tell her father to leave…" Kahlee reasoned as Yoko stared at her coldly.

"I mean business this time and I complied with the rules, but you don't cannot let a drug addict see a child." Yoko stated firmly.

"How about I supervise the visit with Mr. Grayson?" Dr. Toshiwa reasoned with her to find she wasn't budging.

"When she gets that look she means it." Kahlee told them.

"Hendel will do the supervising he is the chief of security here and you're not Dr. Toshiwa." Yoko stated as they saw the air lock opening. They all turned to see a man walking through with a grey business suit. Hendel and Yoko noticed the man shaking. He had bloodshot red eyes and luminous teeth that showed when he tried smiling.

"Mr. Paul Grayson it's good to have you here, but security will be doing a check. They will pat you down and check your shuttle before we move to visit Gillian." Kahlee told him as he nodded.

"Of course it's standard procedure…" he told them as Hendel went to pat him down. As Yoko waved her tact-pad over the man's face.

"So what is she doing? She is not in security at all?" Grayson asked her.

"Chief of Security suspected you're on drugs and in my position as council Spectre I have authority to detain and apprehend." she told him as her tact-pad went off as she shook her head. The red particles on the swab came back as red sand. "Mr. Grayson you're a drug addict aren't you." he shook his head.

"No, I'm not drug addict." he stated as Yoko showed her findings to Kahlee. "It clearly shows that you have red sand up your nose of all things. I will check your shuttle and your blood for trace amounts of red sand." she told him as she took his blood and moved on to the shuttle.

"_Shit, I thought she was playing by the rules, but she plans on kicking me out before I do the drop." _Paul thought as she came back with a glove on her right hand, and a bag. She walked over to show Kahlee and them. It was a bag of red sand as Kahlee shook her head as Hendel finished the pat down to find nothing.

"We can' ignore the fact you're a drug addict Mr. Grayson. She is skilled scientists and she knows what the drugs do to people over time." Kahlee told him as he looked upset.

"So your kicking me out over one little incident. I can clean myself up for Gillian's sake. I haven't seen my daughter in months. I want to at least meet her, I will even subjugate myself to a monitored watch with Dr. Toshiwa and the Chief of security." he told her.

"Yoko… it's a supervised visit and this project stood for families meeting their children." Kahlee reasoned.

"I will respect your decision, but I will state this and this will be on the record. He doesn't come back to the Academy at all until he kicks the habit. He doesn't have the right decided for her or assume being a parent while he is high. She will be under my care until then." Yoko stated.

"Well at least we made some agreement, but let me check him into hospital to flush the drugs out his systems first." Dr. Toshiwa told her as Kahlee nodded.

"It will be good start for him if the drug was flushed out his system. Give me the red sand so I can make note of Mr. Grayson's condition. You won't have let you come back after this say until you kick the habit for good." she told them as Yoko handed in her evidence.

Dr. Toshiwa walked him away from her group as he patted his shoulder.

"You will get a new start when you kick your drug habit to the curve." he told him as he shook his hands with him as vials were passed to him.

"Thank you for giving me a chance…" Paul muttered to him as Yoko turned her head.

"Thank you for at least allowing him to at least see his daughter." Kahlee told her.

"Don't thank me yet, if it turns out that he can't kick his drug habit to the curve. He will be barred from coming to the Academy ever again. Gillian may be fifteen years old, but she clearly needs someone who she can depend on." Yoko told her as she walked away.

"It looks like she really cares about the children in a weird strict way. I can at least see she grew around responsible people and it reflects how she developed." Hendel told her as Kahlee nodded.

"True, but she can be so harsh on people, but I can't deny the facts." Kahlee told him as they walked away.

…

"That was close; I didn't think I will make it past her. Hendel must have told her about me." Grayson told her.

"You're cover was almost blown Grayson. She hasn't suspected me of a thing yet and you come here hopped on drugs again. If you show up here again with drugs in the system you risk Gillian's chance to becoming Humanity's savior." Jiro told him.

"I don't see what the problem was about. She was medicated and experimented on by her mother." Grayson told him as Jiro shook his head.

"That's not point Grayson, she volunteered to be tested. She looks like a saint people back home. Due to her volunteer work to be a guinea pig it cured a lot of diseases'. He told him as he flushed his systems of the drugs. "What more orders?" he asked him as Grayson reminded hesitant for a moment.

"Well what are the results of the drugs I gave you over the months? I would like to give the TIM an update on the how it's going." Paul asked him as he shook his head.

"Ever since Dr. Minamoto came to the Academy her biotic skills are proving to be weak that being projected." he told him as he looked shocked.

"What that cannot be?" He told him.

"Well she gives tests to the children and the troublemaker of the academy called Nick Donahue. Gillian's bitoic potential is low by standards in the galaxy. She can't focus properly and she can't use her biotic powers as well as the other children. She is ranked third in biotic potential and she grades the children efficiently. Then the fact she was trained by Asari a Matriarch and Asari commandos herself. She has no implants at all, but her biotic skills are off the chart. It makes me wonder if the drugs are really working on her. But I see this time the drugs will enhance her biotics to be even stronger now." he told him.

"How powerful are Dr. Minamoto's biotic powers?" Grayson asked him.

"It's around the matriarch level and it's undeniable now. She hardly uses her biotic skills to solve her problem and its mystery itself to find out what makes her strong." he told her.

"Are we done here?" Grayson asked him as Dr. Toshiwa took out the needles from his arm.

"Shape up Grayson; she will give you a diagnosis of your daughter's potential. She is very wary of your job and the fact Agent Lawson is already compromised using a Cord Hislop Aerospace cover. She may ask about your job, so say its corporate secret. Seeing she is president of Nexus Corporation." he told him as he nodded.

…

It took up to an hour to see that Dr. Toshiwa and Grayson met up with the group.

"So Mr. Grayson how come you work such a fine a job and you're hooked on red sand?" Yoko asked him as they walked along. He seemed a bit shocked by her question.

"I can't answer the question. Well I don't know how to answer it at all." He told them.

"As long as you can keep yourself clean off drugs we will not have any problems' in the future. I was asked by Kahlee-san to be a substitute teacher. I helped create the Ascension project indirectly and I trained and fought with every known biotic expert in the galaxy almost. Gillian is ranked the third in the Academy for biotic potential and due to her autism it creates problems for to use her powers correctly. She has average power and skill at best and horrible control." Yoko explained as it was private room to see Gillian painting. She was wearing a red jump suit over her body.

"What is she wearing?" he asked her.

"Due to Gillian's autism, she doesn't like being touched at all. She asked me to make a suit for her and I managed to make her Quarian style red jump suit. The result of that helps Gillian interact more with others and allow people to touch her more." he told him.

"In one month I didn't expect my goddaughter to turn around and help Gillian flourish. Ever since the first day she came here. She brought art supplies with her and gave it to her." Kahlee told him as they showed the art work already done.

"She did all of this?" he asked her as Yoko nodded.

"Of course she will have a future as artist that can also head into design field. I entered her idea into a contest and she won first place in the contest itself." he told her as she showed her award. He had looked at it now as he looked confused.

"The last time I came here she wasn't doing well at all." he told her.

"True, but Gillian's condition made it hard for teachers to teach her. Kinesthetic type leaning is the best for her to develop and grow from. I worked with several exercises to help her along to integrate into functioning society. I have been working on another project to make a drug that helps balance the chemicals' in her brain to make her social. So far the results look promising and other children are using the drugs. Kahlee-san helps monitor the administration with Dr. Toshiwa." she told him as they stopped in front of the door.

"You three can enter the room together, but I have some evaluation work to do." she told them as they walked into the room.

"You don't trust him or Dr. Toshiwa…" Kahlee asked her.

"I don't trust any of them Kahlee-san. You shouldn't place your faith with people you don't know personally. I care mostly about the facts and about someone's feelings. Dr. Toshiwa cannot be trusted let alone I won't give my trust to that man." she told her as she walked off leaving the woman alone in the hallway. She looked back over to the three men in the room as they talked to Gillian.

…

_Four hours later after the meeting with Gillian_

_Location redacted _

_Encrypted channel_

Paul Grayson stood on a scanner as his hologram as he saw the Illusive Man sitting in a chair. Paul's eyes calmed down and they weren't red anymore at all. The drugs they gave him counteracted the red sand for a period of time. He saw the Illusive Man drinking his Bourbon.

"Mr. Grayson I didn't expect to get a call from you. How was your visit with Gillian? I heard Dr. Minamoto was there as well on scene." TIM asked him.

"The fact she is teaching at the Academy itself, Gillian is not the strongest biotic at the school." he told her as he looked confused.

"By the reports that Dr. Toshiwa gives to us points to Gillian being the best. The drugs we give her see to that problem." he asked him curiously.

"See has trained with the best bioitcs in the galaxy and even fought with them. She sets her as number three at the Academy." he told him.

"She always had high standards and I'm not surprised at all." he replied.

"In the fact that Dr. Minamoto doesn't have any implants yet her biotic skills are off the charts." Grayson told him as he stopped everything. He stood up a little more as he looked at him.

"That's not possible at all, no human can use biotic's without any implants'." he told him as he remained stoic and firm. "You're serious aren't you? How powerful is she then?"

"She is just as talented and powerful as Asari Matriarch. I have some data, but it's inconclusive. Yet it points to her having no implants." he told him as he sent it to him.

"I did not know that… a natural human biotic. Just like Asari almost, but human biology isn't capable of doing it. The data itself is inconclusive, but the video gives proof of her being a powerful biotic." he told her as Grayson looked worried.

"I'm afraid that my cover was compromised by saying I worked at Cord-Hislop Aerospace." he told him as he nodded.

"She caught on to your act soon on day one possibly. It was calculated risk, but you're not compromised yet Grayson. She knows any investigation into the company will turn up nothing. She is hurting Hislop Cord Aerospace in sales, an indirect way of hurting us. She is smart and calculating. Our agent stationed at the Academy is almost compromised. I need you on standby to pick up Gillian if that happens." he told him as he nodded.

"What happens if she prevents from taking her?" Paul asked him.

"Do to the fact Gillian's involvement with Cerberus and her duty as a Spectre. You might not be able to take her out of the Academy. We will have to send a message personally to her then." he told him.

"An all assault on Jon Grissom Academy…" Grayson asked him as he nodded.

"She is headstrong and has a great sense of morality itself. The fact her salvage team and company declared a humanitarian effort for the Citadel. We could not collect Sovereigns remains at all. The she slams ExoGeni into the ground for having a transaction with us. Then she collects all the Geth parts from various planets. She needs wake up call to know who she is messing with. You will lead the assault to take back Gillian if Dr. Toshiwa is caught in the act." he told her.

"I understand, but isn't she one of humanity heroes'?" Grayson asked him as he nodded.

"We put ten years of work into Gillian and if we lose her it will set us back. Dr. Minamoto is humanity's hero, but we need a new people to fill the role." he told him.

"Like Gillian…" Grayson asked him as he nodded.

"Yoko Minamoto helped humanity gain things in the galaxy, but if she gets in the way. Well that's her fault, but if there is a chance to bring her alive do so." TIM told him as he nodded. The link was cut out now as he sat back in his chair. "A natural human biotic, she never ceases to amaze me. The collectors want her body badly as well right next to Shepard." he said to himself as he drank from his bourbon.

…

It was several hours later as Yoko sat in the cafeteria herself as the children at. She was in a pretty sour mood due to Kahlee's behavior. She knew that this person was a drug addict and did not bar him from seeing Gillian. Something was very wrong and she was tired of playing by Kahlee's rules.

"_Maybe I'm getting too soft, but everyone in this galaxy is stupid. I almost forgot that the galaxy is mostly made up with morons' still or the fact I'm too smart for them. Kahlee is letting her job and her feelings for Gillian get in the way. Paul Grayson is most likely a Cerberus spy, yet if I approach the building. They would shut down and delete the data and the Illusive Man knows what I know. I need to know what Dr. Toshiwa is up too."_ she thought as she finished her meal. She noticed Nick was playing around with his best friend.

Gillian was quiet; too quiet than usual like the drugs I gave her didn't work on her. She seemed angry a bit as well as I turned to see Nick walking up towards her. I knew something was up as I got up from my seat. I wanted to intercept before he did something stupid as I got up walking to stop him.

He was trying to talk to her, but he started laughing at her for wearing such a suit.

He used his biotic power to knock over her milk over as Gillian responded quickly as she used her biotic power. She threw him into the air as Yoko grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He looked scared as Yoko looked up to see Gillian throwing her biotics around. She made a barrier to protect herself from a flying table. She threw it away using her biotic power as she looked at Nick.

"Nick you should not bully people because, one day someone will strike back…" Yoko told him as she set him on the floor. The children were running about and Hendel created biotic barrier to protect himself. "Nick created a barrier for himself, while I dealt with Gillian." she told him as Yoko dropped her barrier. He casted one over himself as she saw Gillian created an abnormal singularity in the cafeteria. She saw Hendel was hesitating as Yoko raised her hand up to stop him from using his stun gun.

A blue mist glowed brightly in the air as she walked up to Gillian. She was trying to cast biotic shockwaves to stun her with no effect. Kahlee stood from a distance as she helped the children out. She walked up to Gillian grabbing her and twisting it. She screamed out in pain as Yoko waved her hand up creating shockwave.

*BOOM*

A biotic explosion went off as the tables and items flee back to floor. Yoko looked at her to see she was possessed in some sort of way. She pressed her fingers to her throat hitting the pressure point in her neck. She fell unconscious as Yoko let her down softly on the ground. She pulled out her tact-pad and stuck a needle into her body to draw blood from her. Kahlee and Hendel walked up to her now to check up on Gillian.

"What happened?" Kahlee asked as Yoko shrugged.

"Quite simple Nick came over and harassed her. He knocked down her milk and she responded very violent for once. She was unusually quiet and right after the visit with her father." Yoko told them as she turned to Nick.

"That was amazing itself to see you stand up to biotic attacks, but what is wrong with her." Hendel asked her as her tact-pad ran a scan. Yoko looked surprised now as she looked towards them.

"First things first, let's get her to med-bay quick. Everyone else hurt by the attack needs to swing by ok. I will handle Gillian for the time being. I need to check up on something first." Yoko told them as she walked away with Gillian. She stopped in front of Nick. "Nick you bully people too much and I cannot allow such a behavior to go on, to teach you a lesson and drive into your thick skull. Your friend Seshuan will go into lockdown for a week." she told them as his friend stood up.

"I didn't do anything Dr. Minamoto it was all Nick's fault." Seshuan as Yoko nodded her head.

"No, it was his fault you dared him to come over here and bother Gillian. You need to know that you should get never get into a bad crowd. Nick if I find out you bully someone else, I will punish you myself and we all don't want that." she told him as she looked over to Hendel to take Nick's friend away.

"I understand Minamoto-sensei it won't happen again…" Nick murmured as Yoko nodded her head. She left the cafeteria with Gillian in hand as she head to the med-bay.

…

The doctors' on the station were put into over drive trying to help calm down the children mentally and physically. Yoko sat down looking at her scans; the computers here on the station couldn't pick up the drug in her system. She saw Kahlee and Hendel come into the private room now as Yoko sat down in the chair.

"Is Gillian alright?" Hendel asked her as she nodded.

"Of course, she is fine for now." Yoko told them as Kahlee looked at her.

"Fine for now… she practically destroyed the cafeteria and injured several students." Kahlee protested as she looked over to see Gillian sleeping now.

"It's not her fault that someone injected harmful drugs into her system." she told them as they looked shocked.

"What, how can that be?" Kahlee asked her as she handed her a data pad with the results.

"You see the results of my findings and you can see that the drug wouldn't be picked up on the machines here at the Academy." Yoko told them as they looked at the findings. "It was administered to her today right after the meeting with Paul Grayson." she told them as he showed the injection mark.

"Will Gillian be alright?" Kahlee asked her.

"The medicine injected into her makes her autism even worse… the drug was designed to help increase a biotics power. Yet it's a temporary thing altogether it only makes her biotic potential worse than before. Whoever did this was a doctor with extreme skill in medical field. No one is to enter this room without my permission. I mean it; it even applies to you Kahlee-san as well. No one sees Gillian and not even her father." Yoko announced as she took the data pad away.

"You want to capture the person who did this to Gillian?" Hendel told her as she nodded.

"Of course, we have someone in the Academy that has a double purpose. I will do some follow up work to see how dangerous it is. I can possibly undo the damage it has done to Gillian. So can you please leave me alone for now? I will give you a full update on her condition tomorrow." Yoko told them as Hendel left first as Kahlee followed suit.

…

_Night time _

_10:00 P.M. _

Kahlee was in bed with Jiro as they prepared to go to sleep.

"I heard there was a big commotion in the cafeteria today. What exactly happened?" Jiro asked her.

"Well Nick bullied Gillian and then knocked over her milk with his biotic power. Then she turned around and threw him away with her biotic power." he told her as Jiro listened.

"Gillian caused that mess in the cafeteria, did Hendel have to use his stun gun to stop her." he asked her with some concern as she nodded.

"No my goddaughter caught Nick and saved him a trip to the hospital. She used her biotic powers and walked straight up to her. She managed to stop her and abnormal singularity with ease." Kahlee told her.

"So her powers are off the charts after all…" he told her.

"I'm beginning to wonder if I'm cut out to be a director at the academy. My goddaughter pointed out I put my feelings in the way of actual facts. I can see that she runs a company with logic and she also has compassionate side to take care of the people she knows. I was powerless to stop save Nick from getting hurt. Then I was powerless to even stop Gillian, she stopped her without even causing her pain." he told her as he patted her shoulder.

"That's not what the daughter of our great hero would say. Your father Jon would say that everyone has a purpose and you helped shape up to respectable woman. Of course she knows a lot of things, yet she doesn't give her all for the children. We will check on Gillian tomorrow morning…" he told her as he turned off the light as Kahlee sat there thinking for a while. She went to sleep and didn't think about the fact the history about her father.

…

_5:00 A.M._

It was morning again around Elysium again as Dr. Toshiwa walked the hallways of the academy. No one was around and it looked like he was going to start his rounds. He made his way to med-bay as he entered the room. The children slept soundly now as several of them were injured by the rampage Gillian caused.

He made his way looking at a chart to see where Gillian's room was. He made his way there as he prepared the secret serum.

"_Her biotic power isn't strong enough and Dr. Minamoto jut batted her away with ease. This doesn't even make any sense at all. Yet I have the second dose of the serum to change that. I need to inject near her spinal cord for maximum result." _he thought as he checked around to see if anyone was awake.

"_It's a good thing I checked on Dr. Minamoto before coming here. She was still in her room and preoccupied with her work_." he walked into the dark room as he turned the light on. He looked over to see a person wrapped with blankets. A trace of black hair stuck out of the cover as he walked up to it. He pulled the needle out ready to inject into her back. He pulled the cover off the bed to see it was a dummy with synthetic hair. He looked surprised to see as the light turned on.

"Surprised aren't you?" Yoko asked him as she wore a black infiltrator style suit as Hendel stood beside her. She pointed up her 'Paralzyer' pink electric glow as she shot him. His body convulsed due to the electricity running through his body. He dropped his syringe on the ground as he fell unconscious.

"It looks like your instincts' was right on the money Mr. Mitra. We have a spy on board the academy posing as a doctor. He went by quarters just to hear my comm. device go off as I spoke into it to easily fool him." she told him as she walked picking up the syringe. She placed it into her tact-pad as she looked at it.

"So that's the drug that effected Gillian's behavior…" Hendel asked her as she nodded. She placed restraints on him as she picked him up.

"Yep he is the spy and the one injecting her with serum. He didn't know he was making her autism worse and worse over time. The fact is that it was not making biotic strength stronger it was only weakening it. It would only give temporary boosts to the person, but too much of the drug would cause death. Let's drag him to my ship to interrogate him." she told him as Hendel picked him up. They walked out the med-bay as they ran into Kahlee who looked frantic.

"So you figured out something was wrong didn't you." Yoko told her as she nodded.

"I never told my father's name to anyone not even him. I didn't think of it at first and then I noticed he was gone. It seems you were right about him." Kahlee told her with some sadness in her voice.

"Don't worry Kahlee-san, we are all human, but you need to stop some things. Like trusting everyone that comes in to places like this, so who file the report trying to keep your father's name a secret?" Yoko asked her.

"David Anderson, he filed the report…" she murmured.

"You do realize Cerberus have agents in the Alliance. Most of my missions were tasked to find out who were spies in the Alliance itself. I was really good at it and found all the leaks. Then soon as I left they came back and some seemed like they were bribed." Yoko told her.

"So where is Gillian by the way?" Kahlee asked them.

"She was placed on Hyaku Shiki for a better evaluation. I helped set the trap up last with her seeing someone would make another attempt. So how did the drugs get into the Academy?" Hendel asked them as they looked towards Yoko.

"Is there something you're not telling us Yoko?" Kahlee asked as she nodded.

"Yes, and I'm afraid to tell you this. Cord Hislop Aerospace is a Cerberus front for their operations'…" she announced as they looked shocked.

"Then Paul Grayson is a Cerberus agent and Dr. Toshiwa is also one as well. Why didn't you place him under arrest then?" Hendel shouted at her as she put her hand up in protest.

"I didn't have the proof to go there to the building itself. They would prepare themselves for such an occasion when there cover is blown wide open. I need an agent I can catch in the act and implicated to get results. Soon as we interrogate him we will have the link so I can help take down the Cerberus building." Yoko told them.

"You knew the fact that they already know of your discovery. You rush in and you have a failed operation, you only make yourself a target in the future. So you gambled everything on letting it happen and hoping to catch Paul Grayson again." Kahlee told her as she nodded as they walked towards the shuttle.

"Soon as I tell the Alliance they will send a strike team to recover Gillian at all costs. I'm sure they invested quite a lot into her." she told them as they looked worried.

"You mean soon as we tell the Alliance they will come attack the school itself." Kahlee asked worriedly as she nodded.

"Of course Cerberus killed Admiral Kahoku; they will even try to take the biotics here as well." she told them as they walked into the ship. Kahlee was mystified by interior of the ship. She saw Hope humming to herself on the CIC panel as she turned to them.

"It's good to see your taking this all in well… to find out you potential lover was a spy bent on hurting the children you swore to protect is hard." Hope told her as she directed Hendel to the cargo bay.

"Hello Hope it's been a while since I saw you. The last time I saw you when you finally created." Kahlee told her as she nodded.

"Well we have good news on the analysis of the drug. We possibly can reengineer the drug to help improve or cure her autism along with Psycho-frame to help us out. She will make a full recovery after some good rest." Hope told her as Kahlee smiled.

"Thank you for making my day better." She told her as she nodded happily.

"I was only helping you out." she told her as Yoko waved her on to the elevator. The elevator took them down to cargo bay as they saw Hendel strap him to the chair.

"So are interrogating right now." Kahlee asked her as Yoko nodded. Hendel threw cold water into his face as he woke up.

"Well, you see the Hendel was right about you. You were no good for Kahlee-san Dr. Toshiwa. Or should I say a Cerberus agent." she told him as the camera was running. She was taking out medical tools.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he told them as she fiddled around with the very same drug he was about to give Gillian. "It's all some big misunderstanding he told them.

"Lie our relationship together was really a lie so I can tell you information on the Ascension project and Gillian itself. I was a fool not listen to them early Jiro." Kahlee protested as Yoko came over to him.

"So you can deny all you want, but I will inject with the very same drug you were going to give Gillian." she announced as he looked shocked. She came behind his neck as she trying administer the shot his spinal cord.

"Are you insane!" he shouted. "Don't inject me with that, I don't know what it can do to me." Jiro protested.

"You did the same thing to Gillian without any problem. This shot was going to kill Gillian herself once you administered it. Isn't that right doctor?" Yoko asked him. "I'm a Spectre fool and I don't have to play by any rules here. Cerberus is the enemy of the council and the Alliance. Kahlee will not miss you once I'm done. Maybe I shout electrocute you or throw your out into space. I heard its pretty traumatic." she told him as she was about to press it into his neck.

"Wait!" Jiro shouted as Yoko stopped. "Ok I'm a Cerberus agent, there I said it, so don't inject me with that drug." he told her as she nodded.

"Now we are getting somewhere, but I don't give mercy to my enemies. You best have something to say before I jab this needle into your eye." Yoko threatens.

"I can tell you who gave me the drugs." Jiro told them.

"Paul Grayson gave them to you and he is also a Cerberus agent." Hendel asked him as he nodded.

"Yes, Paul is an agent and he has given me drugs for years with orders. He is still skeptic about the fact we are saving his daughter. He believes she will turn to humanity's hero like Dr. Minamoto.

"You're just trying to make her into a weapon!" Kahlee shouted.

"Biotics aren't good for regular jobs Kahlee. What do biotics to help people with their powers? Nothing they were meant to be a weapon." he said as a fist him square in his face.

"You need just shut the hell up Jiro; you think I was a weapon as well. You're damn wrong and I will be sure to turn your ass into the council instead of the Alliance." she asked him.

"You will stop Cerberus and their grand plan for humanity's destiny. You're just a heretic now and want to help aliens of all things. You strayed from the path as humanity's savior you killed our own people on Torfan!" he shouted as Kahlee was hurt the worst. Yoko punched in his rib as he felt a crack.

"Well it seems he is expendable, but I still have Paul Grayson to hunt down. He is a fully fledged agent and I have to get to him first. I will drop off Dr. Toshiwa at the Arcturus Station first. We can move Gillian back to the Hospital wing on the academy. I need to make this fast before Cerberus is tipped off about their missing agent." Yoko told them as she pointed her 'paralyzer' she charged the gun again. She shot the man point blank as he convulsed again. He fell unconscious as Yoko turn to them. "Under any circumstances do not leave Gillian alone… I will be back soon as possible." she told them as they nodded. They took the elevator up to med-bay to go get Gillian. Yoko turned over to the man and shook her head. She thought all the people in Japan would be disappointed to hear one of their own did this.


	5. Screw you in the horse you came in on

**Well it's been a while since I actually added an author's note to story… yet I need to address some things for you. I will tell you more at the end of the chapter and I need a lot of people to review for this big decision please. I hope you read and enjoy the new chapter and review after seeing the note at the bottom.**

...

_Location Arcturus Stream/ Arcturus_

_Arcturus Station_

_Four hours later…_

Hyaku Shiki finally docked at the Arcturus Station; it had a special prisoner onboard the ship. Admiral Hackett stood beside Anya as well a couple of loyal soldiers'. They saw famous white heavy armor Yoko wore as she dragged along her prisoner.

"I see you brought a special guest with you today. You asked to see me personally with people I trust without a doubt. I guess this is really urgent matter." Hackett told her as she nodded. She handed the data over to him and she gave Dr. Toshiwa over to the soldiers'.

"This man is a Cerberus spy implanted into the Ascension project on Jon Grissom Academy. Doctor Jiro Toshiwa experimented on a child called Gillian Grayson. I have the experimental drug in hand along with a confession." she told him as he looked at the data.

"The Ascension Project, what were their plans?" Hackett asked her.

"They wanted to make powerful biotics apparently, but didn't care about the risks it places on Gillian. Her father is also a spy for Cerberus who has handed him drugs for years." he told him as he looked a bit shocked.

"You're serious his own child…" he said.

"They're not related, but it seems like he trusts in Cerberus without a doubt. Yet this drug could have killed her and it made her autism even worse. He works for Cord Hislop Aerospace a Cerberus front who funnels money to them as well. I'm planning to arrest him, but I need people that I can trust on the ground. It seems we also have a security leak in the Alliance. They knew who was Kahlee-san's father was. Anderson's report back to the Alliance was tapped into or someone told the Illusive Man." he told him as he looked distraught now as he shook his head.

"You handed me a lot of bad news in one fleeting moment. Anya, I want everyone from the head hunter division reassigned to find these spies. I don't care if the person lives or dies, but we cannot allow Cerberus top secret information. We start with the people that helped filed Anderson's report." he told her as she taped her Omni-tool.

"The order has been sent out to them and we Alliance teams heading Cord Hislop Aerospace building in California, America as we speak." she told him as he nodded in approval.

"Very good then, but Dr. Minamoto I want you to get there first. No one is to his or her access to the extranet or use to their Comm. channel. So shut them down for now." he told her as Anya pressed her button on her Omni-tool.

"It's done…" she told him as Yoko walked back to her ship. She needed to settle an affair up with Cerberus

...

_Above Earth's atmosphere_

Hyaku Shiki was plotting course to head down to California, America as Hope hummed to herself.

"I'm checking docking station records to reference if Paul Grayson docked or left the…" she told her as she looked up at Yoko a bit worried. "We are too late and he left several hours early than we anticipated." she told her as Yoko turned around the Hyaku Shiki.

"Plot a course to Grissom Academy." Yoko asked her as Hope nodded.

"We also have an Alliance transmission coming so you probably need to go to the CIC. Alliance teams on Earth have already conducted the raid. Ashley Williams and Kaiden Alenko led the raid with success." Hope told her as Yoko looked at her.

"I thought Admiral Hackett would wait on me until I get there." she asked as she walked out of her seat.

"Well since it's a known Cerberus front, Admiral Hackett sent the people that he trusted. So we have no problem with the raid itself." Hope told her as Yoko sat down at her CIC now. She took off her helmet as she looked to see the Hologram was different.

"Hope it usually doesn't take long for the Hologram to appear. This one seems to have full color system instead of normal one color." she asked her.

"Correct it looked like an Alliance transmission, but it's more advanced. I think it's a Quantum entanglement communicator, it sent a clear crisp full color hologram of a person. It's a direct contact method to ensure no one will tap the channel." Hope told her as the person was forming now.

"I see that you're A.I. is on the money…" the man's voice told them as Hope crossed her arms.

"The name is Hope you bastard, but we allowed your call to come in. So show some damn respect." she told him as it showed a man with orange star. Yoko eyes opened up as she looked in surprise.

"No, it's you…" she gasped in shock as he nodded.

"I see that Hope is more advanced than I anticipated, she clearly has feelings like a human. When I looked at the report you made an A.I. with the council's permission. The process used wasn't specified at all let alone shared with anyone." he told her as he took a swig of his bourbon.

"Jack. Harper…" Yoko murmured.

"I see your memory is still intact, the last time I saw you was a while back on Shanxi." he told her as she visibly frown this time as Hope looked at her. "You can't connect me to anything let alone Cord Hislop Aerospace. Even I know you won't jump the gun without good information. I think I can cut out some time to actually talk to you for once." Jack told her as Hope turned my head.

"How do you know him?" Hope asked.

"Right after Nightmare's use on the Turian fleet and I wiped them out another Turian fleet came at the end of the war to pick up the soldiers' that my father caught in trade for three people. I was stationed there as for a favor for General Williams. You're supposed to be dead right next to Ben and Eva." she told him.

"My death was greatly exaggerated Yoko or Dr. Minamoto." he told her.

"What do you want?" she asked him as he set down his glass.

"I would like to praise you for up lifting humanity in your own way. But there are plenty of things we need to talk about Dr. Minamoto. I'm amazed that you found my spy on the Ascension project and you managed to uncover Miranda's identity with ease. Yet I made sure to remove the circuital information out so it wouldn't hurt me. You missed Paul Grayson by a mile, but I anticipated you would turn in Dr. Toshiwa and head down to Cord Hislop Aerospace. You managed to actually deal a blow to Cerberus. So you gained my attention finally seeing how you helped almost knock down ExoGeni a couple months back on Feros." he told her.

"You're missing the fact you tried to kidnap my mother to help rebuild some husk we knew as Shepard." she told him as he nodded.

"Well we lack the real means to understand the human body, but we chose a different method of reconstruction. She would have helped us build Shepard without the use of bio-synthesis process.

"You going to call the abomination Shepard… you clearly know that's not a human. Let alone the fact everyone knows what Liara T'Soni has done." she told him as he nodded.

"The fact they think he will be some type of monster has caused some concern. But I assure you we are trying to rebuild him back to the way he was. You can easily do such a task, because I know the chance of a regenerative drug or device to restore body parts like Mr. Massini's eye." he told her.

"I don't work for anyone let alone Cerberus, I have duty and responsibility. A person that helped killed Admiral Kahoku and experimented on Rachni, Thorian Creeper, and reaper technology." she told him.

"Admiral Kahoku was unfortunate lost due to a rogue facility in our military division." he told her.

"Did you fund them?" Yoko asked him as he opened his mouth as Hope smiled.

"Well you see under law you're responsible for it since they use your logo and money." Hope told him.

"I see convincing you is almost next to impossible. Salvation comes with a cost. Judge us not by our methods, but we seek to accomplish." he told her.

"You do know that I'm icon of humanity unlike you, but you have the best and worst ideals with you. I don't see you helping humanity at all even with your technology. If you say your human then quit using mass relay tech." she told him as he nodded.

"True, but alien technology has its benefits, I mean reaper technology. Yet we have to different methods yet doing the same thing. I didn't think a little girl with a dream can be so dangerous, but dreamers tend to die faster than cheaters. You noticed recently that colony of Athens has disappeared without a trace. So you hastened up your project to build a global defense plan of Feros, Terra Nova, and a new one for Elysium as well to honor Shepard's death. To the fact you're colonizing Virmire, I mean your newly named planet as Atlantis with a global defense plan. The only conclusions I come up with you know humanity's is at war." he told her as she shrugged.

"I'm just a concern citizen and why do you say war?" Yoko asked him.

"You see I'm not stupid as well and I'm very informed Dr. Minamoto. You know something that we don't know." he told her as she turned her head.

"Clearly you're asking me to give up something with no return to it. I want Gillian back safe and unharmed." she reasoned.

"We placed ten years of work into her and losing her will set us back." he told her.

"For what purpose, why would you drug a kid and brainwash her father to kill his own daughter." she told him as he looked amused.

"I see working with the Ascension project has earned you more insight than Dr. Toshiwa." he told her.

"The drug you give her was more harmful than helpful…" he told her.

"Harmful? My scientist assured we get results that were…" Jack told her.

"Dangerous, you do realize you have no policy of safety along it gives some type of result. The drugs given temporarily gives power to her, but it made her autism worse. It weakened her biotic potential to average now. She was the strongest, but not anymore since you the drugs damaged her body." he told her as she showed the results as he frowned.

"You're killing her without even noticing it. Your ten years of work is flop so hand her over unless you want a problem." Yoko threatened as he checked his records first.

"Well I can see your work in the medical and science field are not exaggerated… you want to make a compromise." he said as Yoko shrugged.

"If I catch any other Cerberus agents or projects' being done I will shut them down. But I will save her life no matter what." she stated as he nodded.

"I respect that you are doing your duty for humanity and the council's sake. Fine I can agree with that, but I need to know why did you increase the global defense plan for these planets?" Jack asked her as she brought up more data.

"Two months ago a blue suns base on Omega had a server I tapped into. A list of colonies with population numbers appeared on their server. The colony of Athens is gone, but…" he looked at it.

"The Reapers…" he surmised.

"I was thinking the collectors'…" she told him as he looked surprised.

"You know more than you let on…" he asked her as she played Sovereign's voice stating Harbinger's coming as he put down his glass of bourbon now. "You had this information the whole time and didn't share it with anyone." he murmured.

"Of course, how else would have known that another was on the scene this fast. I was preparing for bigger things, but I can't ignore the fact that colony disappeared without a trace now." he told him.

"So you focus on the planets that listen to your proposal and the others well are left to die." he told her.

"I can't tell them what to do, but I gave an advisory out to be on guard for slavers. Yet their technology disabled the colonies defenses with ease. So you give me Gillian and I will leave you alone for now. Do we have a deal?" she asked him as he nodded.

"Well you provided more insight that we needed, but the remains of Sovereign are another issue." he asked her.

"I got there first fair and square Jack. I'm using it to study for better defense against the Reapers since Turians and Asari want to play it off. I surmised you already have pieces of the wreckage before we secured the scene. So no, I'm not handing it to you since I'm only giving out data. It's harmless to me let alone the council." he told her as he nodded.

"Fine, you do make your point and I don't want a war between us to happen." he told her as he pressed a number in. it was not responding to Paul Grayson. "That's not possible he suppose to pick up when I call…" he murmured.

"Something seems wrong?" Hope asked him as he turned back as he tried calling another person. He slammed his hand against his chair now.

"Damn him… he went renegade on our deal." he muttered.

"I see loyalty is hard to come by when you're spending millions on project." Yoko surmised.

"My agent went rogue, and he plans on sailing Kahlee Sanders, Hendel Mitra, and Gillian Grayson to the collectors." he told her as Yoko looked worried now. "If you want to save them, you best go to Omega. The collectors have taken interest in human biotics' and I have no doubt they will come…" he told her as the link as Hope nodded.

"The drive is activate and we about to go into FTL." she stated as she put on her helmet.

"Dr. Minamoto, this conversation never happened and you can go about your business as you please. If you want to keep Gillian safe my name never came up at all." he told her as she nodded.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" she told him as he nodded as the link was cut as she turned to Hope.

"You made a deal with the devil…" Hope told Yoko as she turned on her terminal to contact the council.

"Before we go into FTL I'm contacting the Citadel council on this and my father." Yoko told her as Hope laughed.

"So you tell them that you want to save someone's life in exchange of some blue suns data. That the council already knows about… it seems you played him, "they both giggled.

…

_Six hours later_

_Omega Nebula/ Sahrabrik_

_Omega_

Yoko saw her father's hologram on the CIC hologram tank.

"I knew you would a make a deal to save people's lives and the council approved of the fact you gave him information we already know. If you can catch Paul Grayson we will have another stone in the ground against Cerberus itself. If you can retrieve Pel it will confirm even more dealings with Cerberus. Be careful out there I don't trust the fact that this taking place on Omega. Go in heavy, but be sure to bring them back alive even if you don't capture them. A Cerberus front building fell at least today and we have plenty of people to interrogate." Isamu told his daughter as she nodded.

"I understand and I will have take Hope with me this time." she told him as the link was cut this time. She told him as she wore her infiltrator armor instead of her white armor. She inserted Hope disk into her helmet.

"I love traveling around with you. I have to remind that to keep your head down when I'm in here. She told her as Yoko smiled. "You even placed miniature small cameras on your suit so I can see behind you. You even made sure to make your suit EMP resistant." she said in joy.

"Of course, I can't skimp on protection when you're with me. Should I bring the total package with me." she asked Hope as she made way to the armory.

"I suspect that Jack will not honor your deal. So carry the armory with you this time." Hope told her as she attached three Flash bangs arc, grenades, and explosive grenades. She attached her favorite extendable sword to her left hip. She picked up hyper bazooka, DMR, SMG, and pistol with her as she looked around to see her foldable shield was on the bottom of the rack. She placed them all on her back as she moved towards outside the ship.

…

It took her thirty minutes to get outside and ready properly as Yoko walked along the alleyways of Omega. She was checking her Omni-tool to locate Gillian.

"You came up with a brilliant plan of tracking Gillian using her implants. The VI implanted inside will lead us straight to Gillian. Paul Grayson is so stupid to think we can't track him down." Hope told herself as Yoko looked around.

"I get the feeling someone is watching me… so I walked in a circle once and I noticed people using cloaking devices. I'm going dark when I slip into the next alleyway." she told her as she slipped into the alleyway using her cloaking device.

Meanwhile as Cerberus agents' uncloaked around the corner as several snipers came out of hiding. As a Chinese man came out wearing black armor and with a black visor covering his eyes walked up.

"Yoko Minamoto is here on Omega as well and before us of all things. Now I get to show her up and kill her and combat." he said to himself as a person held a sword.

"Kai Leng sir, have to remind you we have to Gillian Grayson out along with Paul Grayson. We have to kill Pel as well for the betrayal and we have reports of the collectors trying to make a trade with technology to them. So we should let her exhaust herself by fighting them first…" he told him as Kai Leng grabbed him by the neck.

"I don't care about our orders and about some weak biotic girl. She is a failed experiment and no use to us seeing Minamoto's report. We take out the collectors and take their bodies and their tech with us. Golo best have those codes to the Migrant Fleet or else he goes as well." he told them as he dropped him on their feet.

"Understood sir, but we are the new prototype soldiers with new tech. So someone has to come back in piece he wants results and you cannot argue with that." he told him as Kai Leng shrugged.

"If it beats Yoko Minamoto and the collectors as well it would be a total success. But Phantom agents', be careful using your sword against her. She is trained in the way of the sword and she can kill if you slip just once." he told her as he threw his hand out as they cloaked themselves as the snipers hid themselves again.

…

It took her fifteen more minutes to get to the warehouse as she dropped her optical cloak. She looked at her tact-pad to see Gillian's implants. She pulled out her SMG now as peered inside to see it was dark inside. She walked in slowly to see the warehouse as the lights tripped on as she looked to see it was on her. She looked up to see weird looking aliens that resemble human-sized bipedal insects with a chitinous exoskeleton, four eyes, and a distinct, large, tapering head along with as they fired at her as she raised her DMR up as she placed three shots into one of their head as it fell dead. She saw an orange beam hit her as her shields drop to zero. She used a biotic dash to push out the way. She moved over the beam to take cover as she turned flipped her SMG now. She looked over to see a fifteen of them across the room as she saw one looked at her with more intent than the others.

"I am assuming direct control," it uttered in a deep, booming voice as she felt her skin on her neck flare up.

That sounded like Sovereign.

It suddenly rose into the air. She thought it was flying away at first, before realizing that its wings weren't buzzing. Instead, it appeared to be levitating. As she watched, its carapace seemed to crack open, revealing orange-yellow lines underneath that glowed like lava. Those lines seemed to erupt or ignite, blazing like a fire.

The alien landed on its feet. Flames seemed to burn from those glowing lines, as if something inside had ignited and its carapace was all keeping that energy from consuming it. She came out of cover unloading on the one with assault rifles as she managed to take down two. The glowing one hunched over as it gathered it gathered some of that energy into a small ball—reminiscent of how some biotics focused mass effect fields—and hurled it from its hands. She ducked narrowly as it hit her shoulder. Her shields dropped suddenly as it knocked her back. She flipped back using the momentum pulling out her flash bang.

"I am the harbinger of your perfection," the glowing alien said.

She tossed into the crowd as it blew up as she tossed pulled an explosive grenade. She threw at the glowing one as it exploded killing three of them as she unloaded the last her SMG clip.

"Damn it this whole thing was a damn set up!" Yoko shouted as she cloaked herself again. She flipped to her DMR as the moment slowed down for her. She pointed he rifle as she tapped the trigger three times as the aimed for three as they dropped dead. Her cloak dropped as she ran over to another barricade. She saw more of the unknown aliens coming in now.

'They are relentless just like Geth, but with better technology." Hope surmised as they firing hoping to kill her. She saw another jump up know.

"Assuming direct control." it said as it landed on the ground it was hit by a biotic warp.

"I need to get in close and deal with this problem." Yoko stated as she flipped out to her sword out of her shield. She got up and raised both her hands to make a singularity catching five of them.

"We may not have Shepard's body, but your will be ours Minamoto, submit." it boomed as she threw a warp as I detonated a biotic explosion killing them with ease. She used a biotic charge as she zoomed across the field as she hit the glowing alien. Her blade extended as she twirled the extendable blade slicing it in half. She spun and flipped as she created biotic shockwaves that had cutting properties from projecting from her blade that cuts through another alien.

She used a biotic dash to dodge the orange glowing beam almost hit her. She threw her sword into that one's head as she jumped back as she waved both her arms as she glow a bright blue color as it sent the two of them on their head. They dropped on their necks with as they died as she held her hand up she pulled her blade to her hand. She caught it as she looked around for anymore.

She flicked the blade away from the blood as she sheathed it.

"Damn, that was close, I'm guessing the fact they didn't know my combat potential..." she said as she checked her motion sensor. She moved forward to the next part of the warehouse. She looked at her tact-pad to see Gillian's L4 implant was nearby. She walked into the warehouse with her SMG and shield in hand. She looked at the ground to see dead bodies on the ground as she walked up to as she treaded lightly. She saw Kahlee, Gillian, Paul, and Henderson on the far wall.

She looked to see a Quarian was there along with a man and unknown aliens.

"Damn thirty of you in a room vs. one person equal your ass getting kicked. To make a deal with you collectors and even gift wrapping this deal with her coming." Yoko turned her head as she looked around.

"Who are you then?" Yoko asked him.

"So I see massacre princess wants a name, my name is Pel and my business partner here is Golo." she frowned.

"Golo vas Nedas, you're a damn traitor to your people!" Yoko shouted.

"Don't ever say that you stupid human!" Golo shouted.

"I'm far from stupid you fool. You tried to apply to company, but you were trying to sellout your people ten years ago. They wouldn't say why, but I can see why they never trusted you." she told them as Golo pointed his gun at Kahlee.

"Drop your gun and give yourself up or I blow your god mother's brains out." he gloated as Yoko positioned her gun up.

"She is marine at heart and even she does she want the girl beside her to live, no deal." she told them as they looked shocked as the glass around the warehouse broke as Yoko took cover.

Commandos came into the room as she turned to see a Chinese man walk into the room as Pel looked confused.

"What are you doing here?" he asked him as he raised his pistol up killing him with ease.

"Doing my job to eliminate traitors…" he said as he turned to Golo. "Do you have the codes to the Migrant fleet?" he asked Golo.

"Of course, but it got a little messy." Golo told him as bazooka round blasted him with ease. He was blown away with ease as purple blood pooled out of his body. The man turned around smiling at her she flipped out her SMG.

"Yoko Minamoto it's nice for you to drop in all of a sudden, but we are taking Gillian and Mr. Grayson with us." he told them as the collectors raise their weapons.

"This was part of our deal to have them and you're not taking them. We brought technology and credits that were for asked in the first place." Kai Leng stabbed him with a sword.

"The deal's off…" he said as another fire fight started as Yoko saw another Quarian sneaking with a shotgun. She waved her finger up to a channel.

"Who are you?" she asked as she fired and unloaded a whole clip killing one man with ease.

"My name Lemm'Shal nar Tesleya and I'm here to help. I was going to rescue them alone, but there were too many people inside the warehouse to take on. So I'm rescuing them as part of my pilgrimage." he told Yoko.

"Don't save the man with brown hair that looks extremely mad he is a Cerberus agent just like the ones that entered the warehouse." she told them as the collectors were down now as Kai Leng lost some men.

Kai Leng turned to her now as they reloaded their weapons.

"You were always too rash be to a normal solider, but you act like assassin. To think that we caught out career was cut short in four years. I see your working with Cerberus now of all things'." Yoko told him.

"It seems we put our skills to use still, and I had to thank the Illusive Man from freeing me from prison. So I still see you're running around again boyfriend less like the good old days. At least you're not in love with some alien like Shepard was…" he joked as he wields his sword. "We know both of us are not going to give in to the other's demands. How about a nice fight between us vs. you? The Illusive Man will honor deals, but you have to earn it fair square." he told her as she.

"After that little killing spree you did in the Alliance prison Cuervo. I think you need your ass beaten across this warehouse. I need to teach you Chinese bastard you can't wield a sword like…" she told him as he ran forward.

"We fight you fake Japanese bitch!" he shouted as Yoko flipped out her blade. She held in a reverse grip as the blades clashed. Sparks were created as Yoko laughed.

"You fight like an animal with no finesse." she giggled as she flipped back underhanded cutting his head as she flicked cutting his armor. He pushed back cloaking himself as she thee group open fired as Yoko waved her hand up creating a biotic shockwave knocking them back. Kai Leng's cloaked dropped.

"She threw her a flash bang past his head as he covered his ears as it went off. The rest were blinded as Yoko unloaded her SMG clip on a sniper up top. She waved her hand up causing a sniper to float up into the sky as she shot her gun until she heard a click. She killed the man floating as she saw a man running at her swinging his sword. She threw her shield in the way as she placed her SMG up on her back. The blades clashed against her shield twice as she grabbed his arm.

She twisted his arm as she kicked the back of his leg out. She forced the blade through his abdomen as she heard her shield s go down. She pushed the man in the line of fire. She pulled out his thermal clip from his pouch. She took out her SMG again as she reloaded it.

"We have three more sword bastards, and three snipers along with Kai Leng. Use your arc grenade to knock out their optical cloaks and use your bazooka to clear them out." Hope told her as Yoko changed up her weapons to she threw the arc grenade in the middle as it went off it dropped their cloaks. She pointed her bazooka forward blowing away the sniper with ease as her shield s went down again. She used a biotic dash to move to cover quickly. She saw she was hit with a few stray bullets', but her medi-gel system kicked in to stop the bleeding.

"She put up her bazooka to pull out her pistol now as she looked to see the three sword people wielding the swords were blown away with ease as Kai Leng ran out the open warehouse.

"Next time we meet Minamoto I won't give you any mercy!" he shouted as Yoko looked to see Hendel and Kahlee holding a gun she saw Lemm was there along with Gillian. She walked up to the group as she laughed.

"Thanks for the assist, but I had it under control with Lemm helping me out here." Yoko told them as Kahlee saw her armor.

"Well going in solo and taking dozens of enemies with ease and you say you have no problem. Your armor is burnt and shot up Yoko." Kahlee told her as she looked down.

"Damage to the cloaking system was disabled by the beam the collectors used. You should be thanking them as well the shield system almost burnt out." Hope told them as Lemm looked confused.

"Is an operator speaking through your helmet?" Lemm asked her.

"The person speaking is Hope, an A.I. I helped created Lemm. She was approved by the council to be developed. She has Yoko out on many missions and even piloting the ship." Kahlee told her as he looked surprised.

"My people work with this A.I." he asked incredibly.

"I'm not some A.I. and yes I work with everyone at Nexus and they don't complain about me. They actually love my input, but why are you here?" Hope asked him as he put up his shotgun.

"Well I heard that the scout ship for the Idenna called Cynaid and four Quarians disappeared due to a deal with Golo. He was trying to sell out the fleet again…" he murmured.

"There is a scout ship docked on Omega's port named the Cynaid right now. It seems like they were planning some sort attack with bombs…" Hope she told him as he looked shocked.

"Well you helped prevented an attack on the Migrant fleet by bringing the ship back. But I don't see why you're so interested in my friends here." Yoko asked him.

"I wanted to ask Mrs. Sanders on how the Geth were controlled by the Saren." he told her as Gillian stared at his suit and admired it.

"I don't know anything about the whole ordeal itself, but my god daughter does." Kahlee pointed out as Yoko shrugged.

"Saren never controlled the Geth it was Sovereign, using only a small percentage of Geth. I'm guessing it was virus to upgrade their evolution to be more dangerous. If you're thinking to look for a Reaper don't do it. Saren never controlled the Geth at all he was being used by Sovereign. They have a device implanted on board the Reapers that brainwashes' into doing things they wouldn't ever do." Yoko explained as he put his head down.

"So it's impossible, but at least I can take the ship back." he said in disappointment.

"I'm claiming everything in here for my research and study. I never seen a collector before, but I need their bodies and weapons to study so I can help fight them one day." She told them as she saw drones coming into the warehouse. They started to pick up the items with ease as they flew out. "Thank you Hope for sending out the drones' to collect the bodies and weapons" She told her.

"I have my strong suites' so what about Paul Grayson…" Hope asked her as they walked up to the man that was tied up still. Gillian grabbed Yoko's hand.

"What will you do with my father?" she asked her.

"Gillian he is Cerberus agent of course he has to be arrested." Hendel told her.

"If I send him to the Alliance he would be instantly killed in heartbeat or rescued." Yoko explained.

"You are thinking about letting him go?" Kahlee asked her as Yoko shrugged.

"The Alliance has been compromised and Anderson's top secret missions are known even to Cerberus. Mr. Grayson you will tell me everything you know about Cerberus." Yoko stated.

"Why would I do that?" Paul asked her as he looked towards Gillian.

"You will for your daughter's sake…" she stated as she brought up the data she collected. "Gillian's autism got worse and worse due to the drugs and it even worsen her biotic power. The drug was killing her as well slowly and Dr. Toshiwa next injection was to the spine. It would cause her to go into a seizure and die." he told them as everyone else looked shocked.

"But…" he muttered.

"The Illusive Man doesn't care about your daughter Paul. A Cerberus cell killed an Admiral Kahoku who was looking for his men who died from a Thresher Maw and the one giving drugs to a girl that were no good and trying to revive Commander Shepard from the grave itself. They even tired to kidnap my mother as well to help make it possible. I can't send you to the Alliance knowing you will die the moment you get there possibly. I will give you some time to yourself, while I clean up here first." she told him as she lifted the bodies with her biotic power. Kahlee looked a bit worried now about this new information.

…

Two hours later…

Hilo'Jaa vas Idenna was dead, eh was brutally tortured and killed as he muttered the Quarian fleet code. It was traumatic to Lemm as they carried his body in a cryo-pod. She secured the collectors weird weapons and their bodies inside cryo crates for study. Lemm took off with the Cynaid and with data on the Geth, Saren, and the Reaper. It was a successful pilgrimage with a traitor ended up dead. Hyaku Shiki was docked still she made sure to they were fed.

Paul was eating in the kitchen as he wore his restraints as Yoko cooked pizza. He looked more distraught now a Yoko showed him the truth.

"So all this time… I was hurting my daughter." he told her as she nodded.

"You were hurting your daughter and they were trying to turn her into a weapon. Mr. Grayson. I offer the truth with facts that can support them; I want a list of crimes on video now. I want insurance policy if something happens to you and before I let you walk away." he told her.

"You're not pulling my leg about this deal…" he asked her as she took off the restraints first as she turned on the camera.

"The council held a private meeting with me and they agreed sending you into Alliance custody will be your death. Even if I sent you on the Citadel itself it will not be enough. So they asked me to put you on tape and log this into my personal files when they prosecute Cerberus agents. I will even give you money to get you on your feet before you leave." she told him as he nodded.

"I undertaken many horrific missions with the man you know as Pel. I killed Keo, Claude Menneau's bodyguard." he told her.

"So that's how Charles Saracino got in unopposed to the seat on Arcturus station. So you killed his opposition to ensure he got the seat, but the fact is. I exposed for tax evasion by me and lost the seat for good. So that didn't work out very well." she told him as he went on about his crimes.

"I even sabotaged starships over colony worlds to release dust-form element zero. The worst of these was over Yandoa." he told her as she looked surprised.

"Did you know Gillian came from Yandoa? Your little incident caused a bunch of birth defects and along with thirty-seven children like Gillian. The reason why she has a birth defect was because of you. I almost died in the womb due to my mother's exposure with starships on Mars." she told him as he shook his head in disgust now as he went about more of his crimes. They couldn't name any of the facilities or Cerberus finical background. The Illusive man made sure to limit agents' exposure to the inner workings of Cerberus.

"He gave me Gillian to raise Gillian like my own daughter to be Humanity's savior…" he told her as Yoko looked up his profile.

"Your wife died at child birth and you never remarried. I'm guessing that this was the real reason you sued red sand." she told him as he nodded looking even more depressed. "You love Gillian like you daughter and yet couldn't see past Cerberus goals. It's just a front to show that they would do anything to make sure Humanity was on top. They think history will vindicate them, but it will not help them. Why do they hoard so much technology and don't share with the rest of the galaxy?" Yoko asked him.

"Humanity will have a technological advantage over the aliens. After some things line up for him he was going to give it to Humanity to help overthrow the council races with ease." he told her.

"So what project is commander Shepard's revival named?" Yoko asked him.

"I don't know other Cerberus cells don't know about another's operation. They made sure that Commander Shepard's revival project is unknown." he told her as he went on and on four two more hours. Yoko ushered him up to the front of her ship as she gave him 50, 000 credits. He looked to see his daughter standing there along with Hendel and Mitra.

"I'm going to miss you Gillian you know that." he told his daughter as he hugged her as he looked up at them.

"Gillian can't come back to Ascension project…" he told them as Yoko nodded.

"I volunteer to look out for Gillian." Hendel told him.

"I will provide Gillian with everything she needs and help repair the damage done to her. I will even help train her for combat as well so she can defend herself. All the people I take care are hidden away safely without a problem." he told her as he let go of his hug with Gillian as Yoko handed him a photo of Gillian as he smiled dimly.

"You know… I thought you were some evil demon at first, but it seems to me you everything what Humanity should be. Thank you for looking out for Gillian and giving me a second chance." he told her as she nodded.

"Goodbye father." Gillian told them as he waved bye as he headed out the air lock itself.

"Goodbye Gillian…" he told her as the air lock closed down.

"That's it and we have to let him go… I even protested to the council on his capture." Kahlee told her.

"Kai Leng broke out of prison due to Cerberus that had armed guards and we have Cerberus agents walking around on the Citadel itself. The council agreed to tape his confessing and log it into secret files in Spectre archive. So I'm taking you back you the Academy Kahlee and you two to Eden Prime with me." Yoko told them as she walked up to cockpit.

"But the Illusive Man knows that he was involved." Kahlee told her as Yoko waved it off.

"Paul Grayson got your back." she told her as they looked confused.

…

_Location redacted _

_One day has passed._

The Illusive Man to see Kai Leng armor was cut open and he was shot up as well.

"So it seems like a new agent template called Phantom and Nemesis failed. Luckily they were just prototypes." he told Kai Leng.

"I could have taken her if I didn't have to fight on two different fronts!" Kai Leng protested.

"There was no way you were going to take her after dealing with the Collectors' let along and a straight up fight like that. Her skills were greater than yours and we both know that. You need more training Kai Leng to hone your skills. We have no codes to Migrant Fleet, we lost Gillian, and Cord Hislop building is lost as well. We took three big loses within one day and then we Yoko Minamoto scores big with the collector technology. She even grabbed their bodies, weapons, shipment, and the credits involved. The recreation of the Normandy itself is next to impossible now. Go get some rest, while I think it out a new plan of action." he told Kai Leng as he left the room

He looked to see a message was sent in to him from Paul Grayson.

_Illusive Man I quit Cerberus under the false pretense you gave me with my daughter. Yoko Minamoto gave me a second chance to walk away from it and see the truth. I will go to the Alliance itself with everything I know if you go after Kahlee Sanders.__If that's not enough for you I told Yoko Minamoto all I knew. She is keeping the more personal information to herself and sending some minor data to the council. So don't bother her anymore at all. Your back is against the wall now and if you show yourself to her. You would damage your cause more than you think._

He shook his head again as he drank his bourbon first.

"I will concede for now Mr. Grayson and I will admit that Dr. Minamoto has dealt a great blow to Cerberus itself. But either Humanity is winning the fight for dominance. They will trust Humanity even more now seeing the fact she did such a thing. She won't reveal her hand again until she gets more information that actually connects me to Cerberus." he told himself as he held up his drink now smiling.

…

_Eden Prime orbit_

_One day later…_

Yoko sat in hospital bed frowning as she saw her mother was in the room. She wore a white silk Kimono with a white a white obi. She was hospitalized due to her gunshot wounds and dose of radiation do to the collector particle beam. Her mother hummed innocently she was no doubt employing new medical drugs into her.

"You will make a full recovery my dear daughter and I took care of that radiation poison as well. Padock and I are looking at the collectors bodies for study and we have the tech looking at their weapons. It's very difficult to study due to their organic skin and weapons. So we made sure to lock them up along with the technology they were going to trade in." she told her.

"Thank you, but what about Gillian and Hendel Mitra?" Yoko asked her.

"We are running several experiments and test to help fix Gillian condition up. We are also setting her up to have a normal if she chooses to have it. But she seems interested in actually working with you and the Quarian people." Ayumi told her daughter as she looked at her personal terminal as she smiled. "We have a guest coming in to see you and one you probably don't want to see. I will send Garrus right into the room to visit you." she told her as Yoko looked confused as she checked herself to see if she was proper. She noticed her mother cover her up with a quilt really good.

She saw him coming in with his blue armor as he carried flowers and a gift basket with him.

"It's good to see one of you two doctors doing well. I brought you a get well gift since you gained some wounds on Omega. What were you doing there?" he asked her as he handed her the flower and the basket.

"I was tracking down a Cerberus agent and ended up in a big fight in a warehouse. Nothing too important, but at least I knocked down Cord Hislop Aerospace for good. I also shut down their little project at the Ascension project for good as well. So what brings you here Garrus? I know you don't make a big trip to places outside the Citadel." Yoko asked him as he laughed.

"So I'm that transparent eh, ok I wanted to apply for Spectre candidacy. Yet I don't know the process let alone know what to train for." Garrus told the two women.

"So you want me to help train you to be a Spectre? I see Executor Pallin was right about you fed up with C-Sec." she told him as he nodded.

"Yeah, but you know what a Spectre should be just like Shepard…" he told her as she shrugged.

"If you really want it that badly I will help you, but I should tell you. They pick an individual for their ability and self-reliance. Shepard himself was not a true Spectre candidate since he couldn't support himself. The only problem you will have will be a psychological evaluation. I will tell you this Garrus there are rules that no one should break. Keep Saren as a reminder to yourself of what you can become if you do become a Spectre. I will help train you and set up you to be self-reliant so you can make the position." she told him.

"I will be sure to keep that in mind." he told her as Ayumi looked at her Terminal.

"Would you like to see your second guest?" Ayumi asked her as she nodded. "Be sure not to scream or get mad when you do meet her." she told her as she saw Liara walk into the room as Garrus open his mouth as Yoko had a vibrant blue mist surrounded her body.

"What are you doing here?" Yoko stated as Garrus turned to her.

"I didn't expect this, but you disappointed us Liara. Pulling that stunt and all you got was a slap on your hand. Are you here to beg for forgiveness' or act like a fool?" Garrus asked her as Liara couldn't say a word at all.

"What is wrong my decision?" she told her as Yoko set aside her gifts.

"What was wrong with your decision it was everything damn it. You traded his body to terrorists of all things, the one that killed Admiral Kahoku and his men. They even experimented on a teenage girl for biotic potential by using her father to supply the drugs. They tried kidnapping my mother to help revive some husk from the grave. You don't know if he is going to be revived with a control chip implanted to his head or turn into double agent into the Alliance." she told him.

"On top the fact you should leave the dead alone no matter what happens. You betrayed everyone on the Normandy by pulling such a stunt and you hurt his mother's feeling. You didn't even have to heart to tell us let alone her about your stupid decision." Garrus stated as she dropped her head.

"We need Shepard to help fight the Reapers…" she told them.

"In truth you don't need a dead person to help fight you battles Liara. That's what the living is for and you destroy a sacred tradition to bury our dead. To give them their last respects before we place them in a grave. You're just obsessed with him now and get over it." Ayumi told Liara. "If he was alive himself he would say you done a terrible thing. He wouldn't be proud to what you did after dealing with people killing an Admiral in cold blood." she told her.

"Am I not punished already enough… I can't have a regular job in Citadel Space at all. You took away my passion for Archaeology and I have nowhere to go. I can't even go back home to home planet Thessia." No one has sympathy for her in the room as they shook their heads.

"I think you should have gotten more than a slap on the hand. The Asari Republic is too soft on criminals' itself and I think you should have been thrown into jail." Garrus told her.

"What do you want and make it quick so I can get it off my station?" Yoko stated.

"I want to Garrus and Ayumi to leave the room. It's really important and I can't tell anyone else about it's too dangerous." Liara told them as Yoko motioned them out the room. Liara made sure that they were outside away from the door. She turned back to her as she Yoko cross her arms.

"I need your help really badly and I don't have the means to do it. I want to hunt down the Shadow Broker and yet I have no resources or contacts." She told her as Yoko looked skeptical.

"You do know death will follow you if you go into the underworld. It's a big skip from a dig site to hunting down a person that no one knows about. I won't help you at all unless you tell me why did you take his body to Cerberus? I don't want to hear shit about the Reapers of the galaxy needs him because they don't. You never loved him you loved the Prothean beacon edged into his mind…" Yoko told her as she dropped her head even more now.

"You always had an amazing sense to figure people out…" she told her as she lifted her head. "Maybe I was a bit naïve when I first merge with Shepard's mind." Liara told her.

"You still call him Shepard instead of John… its clear indication that your never knew him at all. Let alone got the respect to ever use his first name. You were so obsessed over the fact that he got the Prothean cipher and beacon stored inside his mind. Your obsession brought sorrow into people's lives and his mother's life as well. Why do you do want to hunt down he Shadow Broker so much?" Yoko asked her.

"It's because the fact is that the collectors' wanted his body and they wanted yours as well." she told her.

"I already know that seeing I have to fight over thirty of them on Omega." she told her as she broadcasted a hologram of one on her tact-pad.

"You faced them down on Omega alone…" she said as she shrugged.

"Of course I faced them alone and some Cerberus agents as well. So the Shadow Broker is trying to make a deal to collect his body and mine as well." she told her as she nodded.

"Yes the information pointed to that and the meeting they had talked about you. They said you were an unusual human being as well. I want to track down the Shadow Broker, yet I have no skills to do so." she told her.

"So you want more training to be an information specialists'?" she asked Liara as she nodded.

"I wanted to be information broker and I'm going to work on Illium." she told her.

"If I help you in this endeavor Liara you owe big time for this. If Shepard does come back to life, you will tell him the whole truth. Don't hide it or try to be his friend. Reconstructed humans' don't have real emotions, they are simulated. I want you to check in with a Salarian called Padock Wiks down on Eden Prime. He will help give the 101 on information specialists' should be and I will be there to teach you what you should look out for like unfamiliar people or the ones that will cower in the sight of danger. If people are willing to take a bullet for you then you don't need them. Money helps people talk, but it doesn't secure loyalty. I dealt with many Shadow Broker agents trying to infiltrate my company and learn my secrets." she told her as she nodded.

"Thank you for taking your time to help me…" Liara told her.

"Don't thank me yet… I want the Shadow Broker gone for good. He has been a thorn in everyone's' side and even mine. I'm helping train Garrus as well Liara so I won't be there all the time. We take the Shadow Broker and I will help you get back in the archeology field again." she told her as she nodded as she left the room in a hurry. Yoko lay on her back in her bed she wondered how many deals she made with people, that went wrong lately. Liara deserved a second chance at redemption and if it helps takes out an evil person. It was one deal she could live with as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

…

**The chapter's over, but I need something answered now. Lately I have been talking to my brother on where my story should go and I have big decision to make. So I would list them for you and you can answer them in a review for me.**

**Should I jump the story up to Mass Effect 2 to save myself from coming up with elaborate story line.**

**Should the Sr-2 Normandy be in the story if Cord Hislop Aerospace. Personally they don't have the capacity to make such a thing now.**

**Should the next part of the story start with Shepard or Yoko itself.**

**I would at least five reviews so I can get a feel on what people think about the stories direction before I continue on with the story itself. I managed to change it up a lot instead of following the books story line.**


	6. Lost Bonds

**Hello to you all and thank you for all the ones that review my last chapter. So I will answer some of your good reviews this time. Yes it will be in Yoko's P.O.V. in Mass Effect 2 storyline and yes I will skip over to the storyline. I will do flash backs for some of the chapters to tell what's going on in the story. Cerberus will have their Normandy Sr-2, but Yoko will have a rebuilt SR-1 Normandy in her specs. So I will jump over to the story line itself truthfully so expect the next chapter to be around two year mark. Of you have any questions please place them in a review for me. I hope you enjoy this new chapter to my story. Who knows if I get a lot of responses about the story? I might not do what I say for the next chapter. **

…

_December 1, 2183_

Exodus Cluster/Eden Prime

Yoko's Mansion

Yoko was working in her own personal garage/ workshop as Hope was humming to herself. Yoko as wore a maroon bandanna, black tube top, leather gloves, lavender pants, and black loafers to be comfortable in as she worked. Studying the collector technology and trying to reverse engineering it was difficult seeing the gun was mostly organic that had metal in it. The Collectors' abducted another colony named Concord during her time spent training Garrus to be a Spectre and Liara as an information specialist over the past two months. She wanted to mourn the loss of anther 100, 000 people, but the colony was stationed over in the Terminus System. They didn't want to deal with corporations or people from the Alliance. Yet some of the colonies my father visited in the past are asking for better defenses. The colony Concord wasn't a complete loss at all.

She found out how the Collectors were disabling the colonists with ease. They were using Seeker swarms to swarm the colony first. They have an appearance of large light-brown insects, deployed in swarms from Collector ships. Once released, the swarms seek organic targets and sting them, leaving their prey in a paralytic stasis-like state. It was horrifying and fascinating at the same time to see it at work. It made it possible to take them alive with ease, but the scary part was for what reason. The drone managed to collect a few of the bugs of the study and recorded how they progressed.

She told Admiral Hackett about her discovery, and he was shocked quite a bit to see this revelation. Yet he couldn't leave his post as the Citadel itself seeing the Citadel fleet was rebuilding itself. Though he made every effort to tell the higher ups, they chose to do the stupid thing. They wanted to play it off as slavers and raiders that attacked the colonies.

Even he was shocked at the decision, but we had to understand that we don't have the countermeasures to fight them just yet. They easily disabled the colonies defense systems with ease, which caused them to pause for a moment. They would Hope that she made some type of countermeasure up to help stop them. The bad thing about it was that it takes time to truly develop something and then you have to test it out thoroughly first, even though you're heading into an unknown area.

The two months Liara spent here learning how to manage and deal with information was going to be key in helping her bring down the Shadow Broker. She also needed to learn some tricks of the trade about spying. She needed to be cautious as well seeing that it was Illium of all things. It was just like Omega with some fancy shoes placed there. She didn't have any contacts to work with, but Padock and Yoko sent her some good solid contacts. She was almost flying in blind into the Info Broker business. Yet she can adapt to it in time just like using a gun.

Garrus on the other hand went through training simulations and missions with her into the Traverse, taking out Geth outposts, pirate bases, and conduction investigations. For the past two months, she had managed to improve his sniping skills, investigation skills, and got him to change over to a tact-pad. It took him a while for him to change over, but it had tactical scan to help increase the user's fighting capability.

She had to curve his commando style type of fighting by letting him lead her security teams for raids. He actually thought more about tactical situations and didn't rush into battle anymore. The two found a weird Geth weapon in one of the outposts called Geth Plasma shotgun. The only problem would be the psyche evaluation and a review of his past actions. She told him to emphasize what C-Sec failed to do right or act properly.

He was tested again by another Spectre she didn't know and he made the cut finally. She gave him a custom made armor by hand since she didn't make Turian armor in her production line. The suit itself was composed of titanium and ceramic composite plates. It helped reduce heat from weapon fire and can take a beating. The body suit itself had a titanium Nanocomposite to help was to help protect the exposed parts of his body.

The helmet matched the armor, but the visor was and cutting edge. The visor was composed of polycrystalline glass; it was made from a synthetic sapphire. It resisted heat and cracking all at the same time. She hadn't heard from him in quite a while, but he sent a big shipment of raw goods, guns, and salvage last week. It must be his way of saying thank you for all the work you done for me.

Sarah's fashion department soared off really quickly off the ground within two months. She didn't have to worry about the security measures in that department itself. She advised to buy out some plot on the Citadel since no was willing to clean out the rubble and rebuild n certain spots. Making luxury hotels in the spot on the Citadel that supported her style. She couldn't deny her friend a chance at doing something she loved the most. She even gave her a chance to buy room to place a store on the Citadel as well to sell her things, which was the right move seeing people were truly waiting on her to clean out the rubble first.

The Quarian on the other hand were in uproar about the fact Cerberus wanted to attack the fleet. It caused a huge debate on what to do lie trying to back their home world Rannoch or find another planet. There was another planet on the border that resembled Rannoch that was in the Terminus system. It was hard to even grab the planet itself, but the Turians made every effort to hold on to it. Admiral Zal'Koris dropped a bomb shell on the fleet about trying to make peace with the Geth, using the information that he talked to the Geth personally as he visited the planet. It caused a great division in the fleet seeing the fact the Geth in a new light. Yet he had to fight three admirals who oppose him. Two vote for one war and one wants to control the Geth so she is on the fence herself alone.

All in all it was a busy two months to say the least, yet she hasn't heard a word from her cousin Kasumi lately.

…

Yoko continued her work in wasn't on the new Seeker swarms they collected from the colony. It was mostly on the technology she captured from the collectors and Cerberus. Trying to reverse engineer and study them properly to see if there are similarities to them. Such as the fact Garrus told her with the fight with Saren. He was possessed by Sovereign through his implants in his body. It reminded her of what Harbinger did to the Collector. So she did a side by side comparison to a Husk and a Collector and to see they were very similar, they exhibit a similar quad-strand genetic structure unique to the Protheans.

The Reapers' indoctrinated the Protheans and compensated for their growing lack of ability due to prolonged indoctrination through cybernetic modifications. The modifications are beyond any form of repair, each Collector drone being little more than a clone. They didn't possess any form of gender as the bodies are riddled with cybernetics, lacking glands or digestive system. They lack any form of intelligence or self-awareness completely eradicated by indoctrination.

The bodies itself were fascinating seeing even after they were shot up by her. The Collectors' chitinous armor is flexible and even tougher than ballistic fibers. Its organic construction allows it to be self-healing, and the muscle-like tissue that assists movement with ease. Constructing a suit with her flesh, cybernetics, and nanotechnology will be excellent idea to the heavy armor idea. To make armor construct around her body will be the hard part itself. A lot of pioneer work using her 'Zero Suit' as the frame work.

The weapons were 'weird' to say the least seeing the fact they composed of the same material as their skin mostly. A few components were actually mechanical and electrical on the weapons. One resembling an assault rifle, SMG, and a sniper rifle designed in their fashion. Hope was working at full capacity to help her redesign her weapons and armor. She proposed the guns we sell have a biometric computer, self-destruction device to prevent study, and purchase fabrication rights to prevent people from copying her technology. Recreating the Particle beam was a lot easier than expected, but there was a safety issue with new prototype gun. She was so absorbed in her study again she heard a sound in the room.

"I'm guessing that's you Kasumi…" Yoko asked her.

"How did you know?" she told her as she dropped her optical cloak.

"I have a great hearing Kasumi you do remember I'm the first true augmented human." she told her as she turned around to see her physical condition. "I see my mother's new experimental drug has worked wonders on you." she told her as Kasumi held herself.

"Auntie is so scary, how can you put up with her poking and prodding you? She scares the death out of me if we are in some type of hospital together." Kasumi shivered as Yoko shrugged.

"You get to it over time, but she hasn't hurt me yet…" Yoko told her bluntly as Kasumi looked around to see a bunch a husk, collector, and numerous technologies around her.

"I can see why you can handle her, but it seems to me your going into some nerd rage right now. Why don't you ever get out and see some people?" Kasumi asked her cousin as she simply tilted her head.

"They are tons of people wanting to take advantage of me Kasumi for money, status, and for their personal goals. Besides I haven't met an honest good man ever since we joined the Galactic community. Besides that I tried calling you and Keiji for months…" Yoko told her as her smile dropped.

"Well I can't find Keiji anymore, it's like he died or something. He shut down all his open accounts and sent them to me. Besides that I always comeback for my family's birthdays and especially Christmas of all things. Even Uncle takes time off for a whole month for the Holidays. I wonder what you got me for Christmas…" Kasumi wondered.

"It's a secret, but I tell it's a one of a kind type of thing you can't get anyone else." she told her as she seemed a bit happy.

"I love your homemade gifts you make, but after the Holidays. Would you like to team up with me on a little raid?" Kasumi told her.

"A raid?" Yoko asked her.

"Well I got some juicy information on someone trying to recreate some of your tech ideas'. They even have some experimental weapons on the scene. The facility is owned by Cerberus and I don't have a stealth ship to take me there." she told her as Yoko smiled.

"Well since The Illusive Man sent me into a trap on Omega, I think it's best to remind him who he is dealing with." as Kasumi smiled.

"Well that's good then let's go Yoko." she told her as Yoko look confused.

"Now…" Yoko asked as Kasumi shook her hand.

"Don't worry about your birthday party Yoko; we always celebrate on Christmas anyway. It will be fun just too of us doing this." Kasumi told her as she put down her stuff.

"Hope do you want to come with us…" as she turned and smiled.

"Will it won't be party if I don't come along, besides I love cracking some of Cerberus firewalls'." she told her as Yoko got up to retrieve to her chip. Something was wrong with Kasumi and she always stolen something to cheer her up.

…

_Voyager cluster _

_Location between the stars_

_Unknown space station_

_December 5, 2183_

Hyaku Shiki floated by in the stars; it had its stealth systems running and their optical cloak on. Yoko wore her infiltrator suit this time as she placed Hope's chip inside her helmet. It was a giant space station in space just sitting there. She turned to Kasumi now as she looked skeptical.

"You didn't tell me that this space station was huge Kasumi." Yoko muttered as see saw a cruiser coming in delivering supplies as Kasumi hummed.

"Well it seems like we will be having some fun then…" she told her as she held her checked her SMG.

"Well it looks like you have to get creative then. We cannot allow them to operate here in space undetected. This station is called 'cold storage'; they store supplies and distribute supplies to other operations. They even have failed projects are sent here. This is a prime spot to gather materials without scouring the galaxy." Hope explained as Yoko nodded.

"So how do we get on the station undetected Hope?" Yoko asked the two.

"We can ride up to the cargo bay and use the auxiliary door. You will need to transform to you Hyaku Shiki's human form for better access." Kasumi told her as Yoko guided her ship to the underbelly of the ship. The optical cloak dropped as the ship transformed. The left hand magnetically locked to the belly of the station. The cockpit extended out as it connected to the hull.

She saw Kasumi already removed herself from her seat already. Yoko reached over to a nearby wall to see the weapon delivery system. It gave her Silenced SMG, Eagle eye, Archangel, sword, and beam rifle.

"The coast is clear and I disabled the security systems." Kasumi told her as she attached her weapons to her back. She floated up to the top as grabbed the ledge. She pulled herself up as she looked around for a moment. She closed it to make sure no one will notice their entry point. She turned on her optical cloak as she turned on her radio.

"Kasumi can you please tell me what's wrong with you?" Yoko asked her as she received silence.

"This is all about Keiji, you think someone…" Yoko muttered.

"Even when I place my game face on… you always know what's wrong a person. It seems your psychology degree validates you skill." she told her as they walked along the corridor. "Well I wanted to bring you along so it can cheer me up a little. When you were off saving the galaxy… Keiji broke off the relationship." she told Yoko as she was a bit shocked.

"He broke it off because he thought he can protect you by distancing himself away. I'm afraid that Keiji might be dead then…" Yoko told her.

"Man, you two are pouring your hearts over this situation. Then why didn't he stay at safe house if he knew he was going to die." Hope asked them.

"It's because of greed and the person that caused this would remain anonymous. Keiji… well he didn't like to be sheltered or told to do something. So you want to get his Grey box back?" Yoko asked her.

"Of course, he was always scared what was on the box. I want to retrieve if it did fall in the wrong hands. But I need some time to find out who took it." Kasumi told her as they people were moving about the station.

"Did you hear lately about the boss upping up security? One of them men told them.

"Yeah, Yoko Minamoto knocked down one of our front buildings with ease. She told the Alliance and they jumped right on them before she even got there." he told him.

"Well I heard that went down, but she also caught one of our guys. She busted one our big operations that took ten years in the making to do. She even beat assassin squad sent to wipe them out. She also ruined another operation before it even got off the ground." the woman told them.

"The chances of Yoko Minamoto finding us out here are zero people, so get back to work." one man told him as Kasumi and Yoko walked down the hallway.

"It seems you're really popular these days, but how will you stop everyone single handily." Kasumi asked her.

"I will initiate a lock down on the facility as a drill… and then I will shut off the life support. The staff here is expendable, but the data here is more invaluable." Yoko told her.

"So I guess those black ops stories I here in the Alliance were true then…" Kasumi told them as she saw the door for the security mech room.

"I know I'm professional in hacking, but if we want to initiate a lock down I will need Hope's help to enter the system." Kasumi told her as she entered the room to see no one there. They walked into the room slowly as she locked the door behind her. She dropped her cloak as she moved forward to the security console. She turned to see Kasumi already lock the other door.

"Ok Hope, it's your turn." Yoko told her as she removed the chip from her helmet. She placed it into the system as her avatar popped up as she smiled.

"They have some big server rooms filled with lots of data. The station called 'Cold Storage' was a project dumping site for the things that never panned out. They try to recycle everything or repurpose them for some type of practical purpose." Hope told them.

"I'm looking for something on this station that is extremely rare." Kasumi asked her.

You mean the prototype Alliance fighter in storage. It was the first one ever made." Hope told her as Yoko looked at her.

"You are here for some old fighter…" Yoko surmised as she nodded.

"Old war relics go for a lot of money my dear cousin. This station collects rare valuable objects and stores them here." Kasumi told her.

"Wait you mean this isn't a recycling station…" she asked as Hope nodded.

"This place collects rare valuable objects to fund their operations. So do you want me to start the lock down the procedures? The crew on the cruiser all got out for some R&R." Hope asked them as Kasumi had her mask on.

As Alarm went off for the whole station as they sat there.

"This is test drill to see how ready we are if invasion squad comes to the station. We need to impress the boss on how fast we can react to a threat. If you can beat the time that another station has set. Everyone will get a bonus." Hope told them as she heard some cheering as everyone was rushing around.

"Did you just come up with that?" Yoko asked her.

"Nope, they were running drills on this at least once a month." she told them as the doors locked down. "I locked down everything and I'm turning of the air." she told them as the air and gravity turned off.

"Do we have to kill them like this?" Kasumi asked them.

"Do you want to fight your way through hundreds of people Kasumi? Besides I'm going on the rule the Citadel council told me to do. It's death or imprisonment, and I'm taking a wild guess this place isn't too important." Yoko told her.

"I also cut the comm. channel for good so they can't send out emergency call." Hope told them.

…

_Location redacted _

_One hour later after the station 'Cold Storage' black out._

As the Illusive man sat in his chair as Miranda stood in front of him as Hologram. Another hologram was rendering beside Miranda.

"Why did the station 'Cold Storage' go dark? I know the station was used to store valuable items to sell and to recycle our supplies." Miranda asked him.

"It's because of Yoko Minamoto vendetta against us." he told her.

"There was no way she can find the place by herself…" Miranda told them as they saw a person waving hello as they turned to them.

"Hello Miss Lawson, it's great we can have a little chat now. Along with TIM here, you really have a lot of bad security measures." Yoko joked as he put down his drink.

"I thought we had deal you wouldn't pursue us." TIM told her as she shrugged.

"I didn't I was enjoying my time relaxing until I got a friendly tip about this place. You thought this was over, but it's not. You sent Chinese bastard to kill me if the Collectors couldn't kill me. I hardly call it a deal, but I said I would do my duty to the fullest. It didn't mean stop attacking the terrorists' that were still hurting others. I said I would stop until I get Commander Shepard's body back." Yoko explained.

"So I'm guessing the whole facility has been…" Miranda murmured.

"Dead… I couldn't stand the fact this place was expendable, let alone let them escape." she told them as she pushed the floating body out the way. "Hey Hope can you turn back on the air and the gravity tethers'." she told her.

"Already done…" Hope told her as she heard a loud thump as Miranda frowned.

"I don't why you're trying to ruin Shepard's chance at being revived. Yet you're focused on us for some reason." Miranda protested.

"Your terrorists' and I'm the counter terrorists forces you know drill. But don't take it personally; I know you're trying to resurrect some husk to fight your battles." Yoko told them.

"You see the problem yet you ignore it. Collectors' are attacking humanity as we speak. We lost another colony already and we need someone dedicated in the fight to save humanity. Even the Alliance heads are fools wanting to play this off as slavers'." TIM told her as she shrugged.

"At least I'm not sitting on my ass complaining about the problem. Yet you want spend millions or possibly billions to raise a dead person from the grave. That is something I really don't understand until this day. You can actually train an army well to help defend against me really." she told him.

"We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but Humanity's under attack. Yet you already confirmed that Reapers are working with the Collectors'. Between you and Shepard you bested them all, the reason why we chose Shepard it quite simple. You aren't going to work for the greater with us, because your honor bound to your duty. He is unique, not in ability or what he experienced, but he you represented. He stood for humanity at a key point. He is more than a solider he is a symbol of Humanity." he told her as she shrugged.

"It was due to me that he was successful, but it didn't help earn the spot on the Council. You think one man can beat the Reapers', you're goddamn insane. Sovereign admitted one thing t me and he knew I was trouble, something he feared along with the other Reapers'. Harbinger won't stop until I'm dead as well and you knew that when you told Pel I was arriving." Yoko explained.

"A necessary risk, but I had to figure out their motives. You've fought a few dozen already and you possibly know how they are abducting the human colonists'." TIM told her as she waved her hand.

"Nice try, but that doesn't fly with me. You wanted to investigate the Collectors' after I encountered them on Omega. You wanted to prove that these things exist. Well this exchange is over…" she told them as she walked away. It shut down as Illusive Man shut it down.

"She isn't going to stop until we are not out of the picture. You knew her capabilities, connections, and knowledge where deadly. Why did you me to go see Yoko Minamoto in person?" Miranda asked.

"It was necessary to get her moving in the right direction. She investigation the colonies disappearances' herself and we all know it takes time to engineer weapons and technology to fight the Collectors'. When Shepard is revived the council will most likely send her in too spy on Shepard. She will be there most trusted agent without a doubt. Baiting Dr. Minamoto into attacking us will gain respect of the council. She may be dangerous, but I'm adjusting the crew we need to be less confrontational." TIM told her.

"We will need a worthy ship to help us fight the Collectors', yet she knocked off Cord Hislop Aerospace." Miranda told him.

"Miranda I always have a plan and I expected that would happen. We already have a ship being built already at one of our stations. I'm upping up security measures again seeing she will keep doing her duty. So how goes the Lazarus Project?" he asked her.

"We have brain activity and reconstructing his organs' using our biosynthesis process. We are on schedule and it's going smoothly. I'm keeping people off the Extranet to ensure the Shadow Broker can't find us. I will send and revolve people of the station to keep everyone calm." Miranda told him as he nodded.

"I see you have some concerns'." he asked her.

"Why would you let this walking nightmare try and aid our cause? She got death slapped on the back of her helmet because she is the council's personal Grim Reaper. She doesn't even consider Shepard a human being at all. In truth I'm more scared of her seeing we don't have any contacts in her inner circle." Miranda protested as he nodded.

"True, but I want to improve our chances of taking down the Collectors'. Dr. Minamoto did not station her men on the Terminus colonies for a reason. She is a double edged sword without a doubt, but you have to know how to use it properly to make it effective. I already have Mr. Moreau as the pilot for our new ship, hand. Then two well known engineers she trained as a lieutenant in the Alliance. Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels are her students', one wants redemption and the other two wanting to help Humanity. She won't find them at fault with wanting to do something good. So carry on with the project, I know how to slow down Dr. Minamoto without lifting up a finger." TIM told her as she nodded.

"I understand and I will have another report for you by next month." Miranda told her as her hologram faded.

…

Yoko made her way to the storage units; she found that lights only turned on when someone goes by. She walked down to last to the last light to Kasumi marveling it. Hyaku Shiki was already docked into the station. She already notified her teams to come collect everything here. She stopped to see that the fighter had a very special name on it.

"Bass Armstrong, one of the best pilots in the fight for Shanxi, Alicia Armstrong mourned his lost greatly. He died fighting to help people on the Citadel. Kasumi is her already…" Yoko asked her as Kasumi lunged into her arms crying.

"I tried to be strong you know…" she cried as she held her in a hug. "I just can't keep it bottled up inside and I have to tell the truth to you. He is dead." she told her as Yoko's head dropped.

"I'm sorry I said all things to you and Keiji." Yoko apologized.

"You don't need to say you're sorry, we already forgave you a long time ago. But Keiji he knew he was going to die. He was doing a going to meet a client and then he cornered him. It was so brutal I didn't even recognize him at all. I had to scan his DNA to find out who he was." Kasumi whimpered as she hugged her even tighter.

"Who did this to him?" Yoko asked her.

"It was mercenary gang called the Eclipse." as Yoko frowned and shook her head.

"Jona Sederis, Nassana Dantius, and now some unknown fool killed him. Looks like I'm going hunting again…" Yoko muttered in anger as Kasumi pulled back and shook her head.

"Yoko revenge isn't the way; you changed quite a lot since we were teenagers still. You always love settling your problems directly or some clever way. I lost the funny, sweet, and caring cousin I knew a long time ago. Yet you killed all these people in such a horrible way. I can understand what they done, but we could have waited for the Alliance to come take them in." Kasumi told her Yoko softened up. "It's all because of grandmother's morals' were placed into you. I want to handle it my way without people knowing who did this." Kasumi told her.

"I understand then…" Yoko muttered.

"Every time you do something it's always for someone else and yet you can't live a normal life. I just wanted you to just live a little.' she told her as Kasumi wiped her tears'. "Uncle and you were right about Keiji from the start. Maybe I did have my head in the clouds, but I just wanted someone to understand me. Not to judge me for my actions' as thief, can you promise just to live a little Yoko. You're becoming more of a monster now, even without meaning it." Kasumi told her as she nodded.

"Ok Kasumi, I promise you then, but if you need my help don't hesitate to ask me." Yoko told her as she smiled now.

"That's good, I knew you were always a softy still inside…" as Yoko blushed as she picked her cousin with one hand.

"Put me down!" Kasumi shouted. "I'm sorry I said that!" she laughed as Yoko threw up with her biotic powers.

"I see family bonding hasn't died out yet." Hope giggled.

"Yoko you defiantly need to take that movie deal as well. You defiantly fit the super badass Spec ops lady they are looking for. You always keep your promises', and this will teach you to live a little." Kasumi giggled happily as she landed on her feet like a cat.

"Fine, then I will accept the offer." she told her.

"I always wanted to ask a question about your Alliance days' as a soldier." Kasumi told her as she displayed a picture with good looking men and her in it. "Who are these people?" she asked her.

"It's my unit, the first I ever worked with in the Alliance." Yoko explained.

"What was their favorite phrase for you?" Kasumi asked her.

"It was princess, and my Commander calls me lady." she told her bluntly.

"Then why do you keep it beside your bed, I know you like these." Kasumi giggled as Yoko cut her off.

"Urusai (shut up) Kasumi!" Yoko shouted as she chased after her through the facility as Kasumi ran laughing at her.

"So you don't just like one man, you can't decide!" Kasumi shouted happily as Hope laughed. This was there little bond that no one could understand. One always confronted a person and the other went behind their back smoothly. Just like a modern samurai and a modern ninja.


	7. Dead Man Walking

**A/N: Note that this chapter is two year mark with Shepard revived. In this chapter I will state that Shepard's implants were taken out of his body. I will explain the process in the next chapter about what was done to make him more organic. Yet Yoko never trusted it was him, she believed Tali knew something that no one else knew about. Motivation to let Miranda and Jacob go was to add a element of a motive between the Alliance and the council. I didn't want to hold up the story providing a big background on the two year gap. I will fill in details along the way on what happened during the two years. It was mostly technological gain during that time. Sorry about my notice, but I had to say that at least before I moved on. I hope you enjoy the chapter with a little twist to it.  
**

_..._

_Atlantis_

_January 1, 2185_

_Yoko's Vacation Mansion _

_5:43 A.M._

…

"Yoko need to wake up you sleepy head, this is really important?" Hope's avatar appeared on Yoko's personal terminal. She crossed her arms as she saw the blonde woman get from her bed. She wore a grey cut off shirt and black shorts. She rubbed her eyes as she looked over to the glowing avatar.

"Did another colony go dark?" Yoko asked her as Hope nodded.

"The Collectors' have wizened up to the little drones' I have sent out. It's a miracle to see we actually saved six colonies out of several dozen." Hope sarcastically told her.

"Well this is the Terminus Systems Hope; all of the colonies were bound not going to listen to me." Yoko told her as she got up from her doing her routine stretching.

"True, a majority of the people in Terminus Systems' doesn't like to live in Citadel Space, but your father managed to turn the odds against that number and convinced six colonies' to have your technology in place. I was surprised that the Geth offered a solution to the problem when I asked them." Hope told her as she brought up diagrams and specs for it. "An experimental barrier system we developed to keep the Seeker Swarms out, that uses the Hyaku Shiki shielding technology work. You made it all by yourself too and without any delay." Hope told her a she had a smile on her face.

"Well the others' didn't listen to what I had to say or didn't even care about their own protection. I offered it all for free without any strings attached." Yoko told Hope as she dropped her head.

"I know people can be stubborn Yoko to ever listen to people. Ever since the Alliance has been funding the colonial defenses, the people all thought it was all a political ploy. It offered freedom to do what they wanted and to get away from the overcrowded Earth." Hope explained to her as Yoko sat there stretching some more.

"So which colony has dropped out of sight this time?" Yoko asked her as Hope clicked her fingers.

"Freedom's Progress was attacked several hours earlier. The drone we had self-destructed to prevent the collectors or anyone else from studying its design." Hope told her as Yoko got up pulling a blue jump suit from her closet looking for something to put on. "We got out going beacon signal coming from the colony." she told her as she looked surprised.

"Really, someone sent it out right after the attack?" Yoko asked her as she stripped off her shirt and shorts. She wore a black sports bra and form fitting shorts. She slipped on her blue 'Zero Suit' as she turned to her as she seemed a bit disturbed.

"That's weird someone blocked out the transmission. The message was sent to us and then bounced off to the Migrant Fleet before they could hide it. Do you want to check it out Yoko?" Hope asked her as she shrugged.

"We pretty much know who is behind the abductions, but to see someone blocking at the transmission like they didn't want people to know who's there. Tell the Admiralty board I will be there to pick up this one myself." Yoko told Hope as she nodded.

"I sent the message out already. You can yank me now." as Yoko yanked her chip out the personal terminal. She placed her chip into her tact-pad as she walked away towards the door.

"I always take care of my friends when they need help." she murmured as she walked to elevators towards her hangar.

"_I was heading off to almost deserted colony to search for a Quarian named Veetor'Nara shy neurotic one with a history of instability. While never directly dangerous to himself or others, Veetor could not handle stressful situations such as large crowds or violence without experiencing some form of mental disconnect, because of his panic around large groups. He spent his time working on the colony since it was so small. It raised my interest to see that they missed one Quarian. It was most likely due to the fact his suit keeps his genetic signature from being detected. I want to know who jammed the comm. buoy, because the Alliance wasn't responding to it. I would remain calm and do some surveillance and reconnaissance. The rescued will no doubt try to hurt the rescuer in an indirect way. I need to exercise more caution ever than before. The only ones I can think off that can do such a thing was Cerberus…_

…

_Two Hours later _

_Freedom's progress_

_Terminus Systems_

…

_Freedom's Progress it looked like any other colony in the system, yet it was small. The population number 912,810 in 2183 and two years later it was just one million people strong. The colony had very little defenses beyond a small militia, supplemented by mechs and security drones. They refused my help to secure the colony and because they valued their freedom the most. I wished I could sneak my devices on the colonies', yet people would no doubt would destroy in a heartbeat and sell it. I wonder if Humanity was getting dumber or I was getting smarter. I forgot we have more idiots' than actual smart people in the Galaxy._

…

_7:43 A.M_

_January 1, 2185_

_Terminus System_

_Freedom's Progress _

…

Hyaku Shiki landed on the ground in its humanoid from on the colony Freedom's Progress. The colony was snowing lightly as their where tracks in the snow. The cockpit opened up as Yoko stood in her blue 'Zero Suit' as she looked around to see the scene.

"There is a lot of foot traffic that went through this colony. It has the Collectors' M.O. written all over it. Since it was snowing here, I'm detecting the DNA code here as well." Hope told Yoko as she sat on the hand looking at her tact-pad to see the results.

"What about the Veetor?" Yoko asked Hope as Hyaku Shiki's head turned slowly. The visor turned bright red as it moved around.

"I'm detecting his heat signature at the loading bay. Be careful I noticed some mech's moving around. Their programming was set to attack anything that moves." Hope told her as Yoko nodded as she took out some weapons from the cockpit.

"Wakaterru Yo (I know)." she told her as she checked to see her assault rifle. She pulled out a pistol, DMR, and a beam rifle.

"So you plan on using the new improved organic bio suit using the nanotechnology." Hope told her as Yoko nodded.

"Well reverse engineering the collector technology and dragoons teeth has its perks'. Yet it's untested still and I would like to try it out for a field test." Yoko exclaimed as Hope giggled.

"You and your toys' or is it to impress the men in your life with them." she told as Yoko shook her head laughing.

"Men and their toys', they probably don't know how to even fix them." she told her as she saw the glowing pink symbol on her chest. "Hope why did you put the glowing crystal matrix in pink?" she asked her.

"Pink and blue are great colors that complement each other. Plus I'm getting tired of you picking out neutral colors. Just try it out for me ok." Hope told her as Yoko shrugged. She touched her tact-pad to active it then touched the pink symbol that was a star shaped.

"The glowing symbols' on the your of your heart, back, and your right hand are actually energy matter converters' which stores energy for your suit." Hope told her as the symbols' glowed all over her body. She felt a tingling sensation that felt good.

"I know Hope; I helped created the concept for the suit. My old suits were using up too much power or got damaged too quickly. I used various concepts' to make the armor using collector technology, Dragon teeth, and my technology. I created the suit to use pure energy to bring out the metals' in the suit to make the armor. It uses the power cell concept by mostly, but it uses the electrolytes in my blood to power the suit up." she told her as a suit symbols flashed as wave of white light surged from the suit as Yoko closed her eyes.

The metal surged up from the suit as she opened her eyes to see her white famous armor. She smirked to herself as she looked to see it was in pristine condition.

"I see it's up to your standards and you're very impressed. But it took several minutes to actually turn on and activate the suit. Plus the fact we can't configure most of the weapons into the suit. You only have your built in weapons such as the Vulcan head mounted gun, both your physical blade and beam saber." Hope went on as Yoko shrugged happily.

"It's ok Hope, that' why we are testing the suit out today for the first time. Mechs are a control variable in experimental test run. How do you feel about the upgraded crystal matrix I placed into my suit?" Yoko asked her as Hope giggled. She placed her weapons on her back as she jumped off flipping as she hit the ground with a soft thud.

"I feel like a happy school girl meeting her first crush." she told her as Yoko smiled as she walked along the snow. She turned towards Hyaku Shiki as she saw the cockpit close the optical cloak came online. She turned back around as she took out her assault rifle. She walked forward as she saw the first building. She walked calmly to the first building as she opened it.

The lights were off at first, but they flickered on when the motion sensors detected her presence. A nearby table held a couple platters of food and a pitcher.

"That is quite weird, we got the info on the blackout just a couple of hours ago, yet the food on table is set for dinner," Hope observed.

"It seems like the Collectors' are getting better at hiding their presence. Only idiots like the Alliance can't find a trace of their presence." Yoko chastised as she made her way out the building and down some stairs into a courtyard filled with more crates. The colony was mostly built into rock outcrops to give the buildings more sounded structure. There was nothing to see at all at this colony.

"It looks like we can salvage some parts from crate. I will send the repair drone to collect, but you can swipe your hand over to fabricate the pieces in the box." Hope told as Yoko waved her tact-pad over it to collect a thousand credits.

She activated the door controls. As the doors lowered, she noticed a pair of LOKI mechs. They were just standing there, motionless until she stepped forward. Naturally, they chose that moment to turn towards her.

"Combat systems engaged," they announced pleasantly as they raised their pistols and opened fire she ducked for cover for a moment, she heard a strange low-pitched electronic warble.

"It seems he activated the FENRIS mechs as well." Yoko muttered as she looked over to see the two LOKI mechs reloading. She looked at her sensor readout as she saw armor was on them.

"It seems like the colony attacks made Freedom Progress are using an updated model of security mechs. Using a disruptor rounds will stop them in their tracks." Hope told her as she switched over to synthetic round as she came out over shooting one in the head with a couple of bursts. It exploded knocking over the other one as Yoko created a biotic pull. She pulled the mech away over the wall as it helplessly sat there floating as she threw a warp into the pull. She looked at her motion sensor to see five enemies. There were three LOKI's up top as she saw two FENRIS mechs trotting this way as she unloaded the rest of her clip into the two mechs with ease.

She turned quickly placing a new clip in as she quickly unloaded her gun into three as they dropped quickly.

"Your guns are known for destroying armor with ease." as Yoko reloaded her guns.

"It's so sad to see most of the galaxy using thermal clips still…" Yoko muttered as she walked past them heading into the new building structure.

"Ever since your guns came out on the market, people found that your bullets are not shards of metal being slug at them. You have bullets have more mass making them more deadly than the mass relay gun. I'm surprised to see not everyone is using thermal clips for their guns. People find it more reassuring placing real clips into their gun then rely on some block of metal instead." Hope told her.

Yoko looked around in the next structure as she found med-kit, a wall safe filled with credits, ad spare salvage. She bumped into another pair of mechs as she flicked out her sword stabbing them before they turned on. She put her up blade quickly as she rushed into the structure. She heard the mechs self-destruct after the door closed.

"We have a new problem at the moment." Hope told her as Yoko listened. It seemed our friend Veetor thinks FENRIS and LOKI mechs aren't making the cut. He is sending in rocket drones to deal with the problem." as Yoko groaned as she shook her head.

"Damn they said he gets crazy after a traumatic event, but this is understatement." Yoko complained.

"Well if that's enough we have a Quarian drop ship coming into the colony." Hope told her.

"I thought we told them we can handle this problem alone." Hope told her as Hope hummed for a second.

"While you seem concerned about Quarian's they decided to play it safe. So they sent a team here despite our message. So you might want to hurry it up?" Hope told her as Yoko activated her cloaking system. She opened another door to her left to go outside. She walked along the ramp to get to another building. She walked down towards the building to see the LOKI mech offline. She hacked into the safe. She walked over to the door and opened it. She walked over to nearby building to see another med-kit. She quickly scooped it up as she headed along her way. She made her way down a flight of stairs.

"The Quarian people have touched down on the colony now. I'm also detecting an unmarked shuttle coming in towards the system. I'm taking a guess it's a Cerberus shuttle. The Alliance and Cerberus uses them for shock troopers." Hope told her as Yoko salvaged more gear from stock pile. She walked up to the door as she let her optical cloak drop.

"The door can be open from the other side." Hope noted as Yoko activated her boosters shooting up towards the sky as she landed on the docking bay. She turned on tactical scan as she saw a lumbering white giant standing there as she frowned.

"This is just great Veetor turned on YMIR mech as well." Yoko muttered.

"Let's set up and see who comes by shall we, get on top of building and use your optical cloak to hide yourself." as Yoko did so as she boosted up on top of the building. She perched there as she turned on her optical cloak as she took her beam rifle out.

…

Over the past twenty-five minutes she heard of number of explosions' and gunfire. A new startling development came up as members of Tali's team rushing up here to the docking bay. She heard Shepard's name being mention on the open comm. channel.

"_Shepard, why would Tali even say such a thing, that man was long dead. She will see only a husk of the person instead." Yoko thought._

"Well you're probably thinking why she would say such a thing. If they restored his memory to full detail and he would say something no one knows about her except them both knowing." Hope wondered as Yoko watched the scene too see the Quarian team getting decimated. "I surmise that the data Tali brought from her pilgrimage came from Shepard who gave it to her." Hope told her as Yoko nodded.

"True, but he might have a control chip in his head." Yoko told her as Hope said nothing at all.

"_Tali is no leader at all, she can barely even motivate a team to do something. Yet I want to step in help them, I don't want to give away my position to Cerberus. I need to know what they have been doing to him without tipping them off." _Yoko thought as she saw Tali taping furiously on her Omni-tool as the loading deck opened up.

A ramp led up a couple meters to a second 'level', which held three buildings. A Quarian was sprinting down the ramp, taking cover behind a crate. Three more Quarians were slowly retreating out into the open from behind the left building, firing at the Mech.

The YMIR-class mech, thundered out after them, its every step sending vibrations throughout the ground, even from where I was hiding, I could see that it was twice as tall as I was. A rattle of automatic gun-fire blazed from its right arm, knocking two of the Quarians over. One of them, a female, tried to get up, only to get crushed to the ground with a cry as the YMIR mech stepped on her. It paused for a moment, as if assessing her status. Apparently it decided she was still a potential threat, as it fired four or five rounds into her head. Looking up, it scanned its immediate vicinity. It focused its attention on the two remaining Quarians that had been firing at it earlier and extended its left arm. There was a beeping noise, like something charging up, before a rocket launched from its arm. It whistled across, made a slight course correction and exploded, sending the Quarians flying into the air. They staggered to their feet, just in time to receive multiple rounds to their chests.

Panicking, the last Quarian, the one we saw running down the ramp earlier, broke his cover and tried to flee for the loading bay doors. This attracted the YMIR mech, who immediately opened fire. As that hapless Quarian twitched and shuddered under the onslaught, Miranda, Jacob and Shepard ran into the loading bay.

…

Jacob hid behind a stack of pipes. "That mech's got heavy armor plating. The Quarians never stood a chance."

"And shields," I noted with dismay, reading the latest scans from my sensors.

Taking cover behind one of many sets of crates, Miranda summed it up quite nicely: "This is going to be one tough son-of-a-bitch to take down."

"Miranda, overload its shields. Once they're taken out, we can start punching through the armor. We need to use our biotic power to take, once it's down to its standard chassis. We can easily destroy it."

Miranda nodded, sending a pulse from her Omni-tool towards the YMIR mech unfortunately, it only drained about a quarter of its shields. Shepard managed to take out another third with his submachine gun before he had to duck for cover behind a set of crates.

"Target locked," it rumbled.

He took another peek, only to see a rocket fly my way. Hastily, he ducked back. He avoided the worst of the resulting blast, but still took enough damage to drain his shields completely. He threw a shockwave at it to see it had no effect at all. It still had its shield system running.

For the next few minutes, all they could do was take pot-shots at it and hope they didn't get their heads ripped off by a stream of bullets. At one point, he emptied a thermal clip into its head. The YMIR mech turned towards him. "Retargeting," it stated before sending a rocket Shepard's way. "Miranda, any time now!" Shepard yelled, ducking back just in the nick of time.

"Three seconds to recharge," she called back. "Two... one... here we go!"

She sent another pulse from her Omni-tool. This time it did the trick, as the shields were finally gone. Unfortunately, her timing was slightly off and there was a large protruding pipe blocking the way, forcing her to break cover in order to get a clear line of sight to attack. The mech paused, swiveled in her direction and fired its mass accelerator cannon at her. Shepard darted to the other side of the crates, hoping to get the drop on it... only to see it stomping in his direction, guns blazing. He hastily threw a biotic warp as he ducked back. It staggered for a moment, announced that it was "rerouting," and then plodded its way towards him

Shepard was running around the crate, getting out of the YMIR mech's line of sight. He only stopped to fire only a couple of seconds. Its armor strength was at 66% now as he panted.

"Miranda, Jacob," He yelled, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "I'd appreciate it if you could hurt that sucker a little faster. I can't run around in circles all day, you know."

"We're trying, Shepard," Jacob called back over the roar of his shotgun. "Just hang on."

The YMIR mech clipped him with another rocket, draining the last of his shields. "While we're young!" He demanded.

Jacob jumped out of cover. Eschewing his shotgun, he settled for waving his hands up and down. "Hey! Over here!"

"Jacob!" they both shouted at him.

The YMIR mech paused and started to swivel towards Jacob. Shepard hid behind the crate waiting for his shields to recharge. He came out of hiding as Shepard was surrounded by a bright blue aura. He shot across and slammed into the back of the YMIR Mech knocking it off balance. He unloaded shocking shells into the back of it as he pulled away hiding behind another crate now.

They running back and around the crates playing cat and mouse. They finally penetrated their YMIR's armor now.

"Threat assessment: aggressive," it decided as Shepard hit with another biotic charge. Jacob hit with a pull and to see it didn't get off the ground. Miranda hit it with a warp causing a biotic explosion as it staggered it. Shepard climbed on top of it unloading the rest of shot gun into its head. It crumpled to the ground as Shepard jumped off and ran away from it. It exploded as Shepard got hit with the explosion as the crates nearby were vaporized. He was on lying on the ground groaning as he touched his glowing scars.

The latter helped me to him to his feet. "Are you all right, Commander?" he asked.

"Peachy," he replied. "By the way, do you always make a habit of throwing yourself into harm's way?" Miranda snorted.

"My orders are to ensure that you complete the mission, no matter what," Jacob said firmly.

Shepard gave him a long look. "You're an idiot," he told him.

"So I've been told."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He told them as they began to scour the area for items. Shepard turned around as he looked around.

"I thought someone was watching me for a moment." he told himself.

"Interesting to say the least, but I need to take these three in for study and interrogation." Yoko muttered.

…

It took quite a number ten minutes until she saw the group come out. They had somewhat of a satisfied look on their face, except Miranda. They felt heavy footsteps coming their way as they took out their guns.

"I thought we shut down the security mech system." Shepard asked them.

"We did shut it down Shepard, but I don't know…" Miranda wondered as they saw a gold giant tower over them.

"Hyaku Shiki is here?" Jacob muttered as the heard a whistle from behind.

*Crack*

A rifle butt knocked him out flat cold as tranquilizer darts shot into Jacob and Miranda's neck.

"Thank goodness I waited for Tali to leave first. She would cause a fuss over this. I went back and dealt with the Cerberus shuttle while they chatted with Veetor.

"Looks like I win Jack." Yoko joked.

…

_Minuteman station_

_Two hours later after Shepard's investigation_

…

Joker stood in front of TIM who was frustrated now as he sat in his chair.

"I expected Shepard to be back after Miranda notified me of their investigation. Yet it only takes one hour to get back here. I suspect the worse has happened already." he told Joker.

"He died again." Joker asked him as he shook his head.

"No, I suspect Yoko Minamoto was there at Freedom's Progress and she ambushed them. Dr. Minamoto in no doubt has Shepard, Miranda, and Jacob in her custody." TIM told her.

"I see my girlfriend got angry when she didn't get a text from me for two years. So she goes after my best friend just to get to me." Joker joked as the Illusive man wasn't amused this time.

"I called here Mr. Moreau for a purpose and I want you to take the new ship to Eden Prime. I want you to save the team before they are turned into the Alliance. Do whatever it takes to save them and you will no doubt get a raise. I want you to go now to catch up to her." he told him as he cut the link.

"I haven't seen Yoko after the Shepard's funeral ship. Now I get o play hero and try to save Shepard with a Cerberus ship. It's going to take all my charm to save them.

…

_Six hours later_

_Eden Prime orbit_

_Station Stargazer_

…

Admiral Anderson sat in the room overlooking a team of doctors'. They were dissecting him and changing out the synthetic with organic parts. He smelled the scent of coffee in the room. He looked at the glass reflection to see the floating coffee.

"Thank you for the coffee." he told Yoko as she walked up beside him drinking a chocolate latte with whip cream.

"You're welcome… you're a bit surprise to see a dead man walking." Yoko asked him as he nodded.

"To think Cerberus rebuilt within this amount of time is impossible. Yet here is on this table being studied. What do you plan to do him?" Anderson asked her.

"Well you see we wanted to fix him up properly since I can't stand to see bio-implants in his body. We are using his mother's DNA and father's DNA to recreate organs for him. Truthfully if I was tasked to revive a person I wouldn't use the process Cerberus used. I find that this way is cheaper and doesn't give option to cloning the body parts. His metal skeletal frame will stay and place, but we are rebuilding and replacing the nerves itself. I was surprised to see that they didn't even implant a control chip in his brain. I have no doubt Cerberus will try to rescue them." Yoko told them as she waved him on. "Since you're here let's conduct our interrogation." as he followed her to a separate room with two cells.

The two were already awake and stirring as the Anderson and Yoko came into the room.

"Well this is quite a surprise, the first I met you was on the Citadel and now you show up at almost abandoned colony. So who wants to talk first, you can ask me question before I started asking me?" Yoko asked them as Miranda glared at her as Jacob remained almost quiet.

"What do you plan to do us?" Jacob asked.

"It depends on you asking my questions' truthfully with some cooperation involved. So I will ask you this, who revived Commander Shepard?" Yoko asked them as Miranda glared at Jacob.

"We are not going to tell you Dr. Minamoto?" Miranda spat out as she hummed turning on the cage as it shocked her. She was screaming a bit as she tried to hold it in. She turned it off as Yoko shrugged.

"This cage emits electrical current similar to a stun gun. It's useful for helping people extract prisoners' in their cells. I designed it for the Alliance and Citadel to help keep people inside the prison. It's a bit extreme, but law enforcement loves the idea that floor is a natural stun gun. If you were more cooperative like Mr. Taylor here that wouldn't happen." she told them as Miranda panted heavily. "Mr. Taylor will you answer my question?" she asked now.

"The project Miranda worked on was called the Lazarus project, it was centered on reviving Shepard." he told her as they both nodded.

"Well seeing you're the one that headed the project and along the fact the Illusive Man most trusted agent. What did you do to him?" Anderson asked to get no answer as Yoko shrugged.

"Not answering this time. Fine everything done to him was ridiculous to say the least. Bio implants that cost around more than one billion credit each. You really are stupid Miss Lawson, but I'm not keep bashing you. We are taking every implant and reconstructing him mostly back with organic parts. Using our drugs and methods and it will not take two years to do this." Yoko explained as she looked shocked as she was handed a data pad. "Everything you done were redundant mostly, except using a metal skeletal frame. Spending billions' just to see we could spend a couple million to fix him right up. It's pretty said to say the least, but your father…" Yoko muttered.

"Don't talk about my father at all let alone mutter his name!" she shouted at her.

"Then you respect me and see that this is not in you favor. You're not going to use Shepard for your goals' at all. Apparently you wanted to box him and not give him a choice at the matter. Yet you forget about me and what I can do." Yoko explained.

"We have orders from the council to let you after the modifications to Shepard are done. We are expecting someone to pick you up." Anderson told them as they looked confused.

"What you're just going to let us go like nothing happened?" Jacob as Anderson nodded.

"Yes, but we are not going to tell you why. We have orders from the council to let you go with Shepard." Anderson stated as the two left the room drinking their coffee.

"Something is going that I don't understand truly. The council is against Cerberus, yet they are ordering them to let us leave." Miranda wondered as the two pondered why.

…

It was a few minutes later as Anderson and Yoko sat in front in the meeting room. The council was displayed by holograms as they all sat there.

"Was it wise to let them leave the station on their own accord?" Anderson asked them as they nodded.

"We almost know next to nothing about Cerberus Admiral Anderson. Making sure Shepard wasn't controlled by Shepard was the first step. If it is him he would no doubt use their services' to help him fight the Collectors'." Valern told them.

"We know what's going on in the Terminus system and seen the reports' about the Collectors. They got away for this for centuries doing this to other alien species. Their sudden interest in attacking Humanity is troubling. We have no true power in the Terminus system, yet we are also scared they would do the same to our colonies'." Tevos explained as they nodded.

"They are able to knock out colonies with ease and without trouble. You developed ways to keep them out, but not a way to fight them head to head. How is your progress on the counter measure?" Sparatus told her.

"It's not complete yet, but we are testing it out on the swarms we captured during the Concord colony abduction." Yoko explained.

"Since Cerberus wants to take the lead and stop this. We will let them waste their money o nth is cause instead of using the Alliance's money and yours. It's good to know he Shepard isn't working for Cerberus, but the fact he think the Reapers are involved. He will no doubt do anything to stop them even teaming up with them." Isamu noted as the alarm went off as Hope's avatar popped up.

"Super Mac is online and ready to fire. I detected a stealth class ship just like the Normandy entered our air space. They want to talk to us on the comm. channel and it's from Joker." Hope told them as Yoko shook her head.

"Joker, I heard about him leaving the Alliance due to the fact they grounded him for good. It seems our politicians' in the Alliance is screwing over. Either they join them or they join your company instead." Anderson muttered.

"True, but I eliminated that problem, but it took a year for me to address it. So fellow council members' how do you want to address this." Isamu asked them.

"Let him through and collect Shepard and the other two agents'. We want you and Dr. Minamoto to come to the Citadel for a more secured channel. This meeting we conclude on another day later." Tevos told them as the link was cut.

"Hope, open up the comm. channel for me." Yoko stated as she nodded.

"This is Jeff Moreau and I would like to talk to my girlfriend please. She is the boss lady that owns that joint." he asked.

"I'm here Jeff and I'm quite disappointed at you for working Cerberus now. I could have given you a job and a new ship." Yoko protested.

"You don't work for your girlfriend you like a wimp if I did that. Despite all the benefits' I can have. You know I would like pick up Shepard and the two Cerberus lackeys'." he told her as she looked at her report about Shepard as she nodded.

"Fine, but this a pick up only and keep your distance from my station with that ugly ship." she told him as she saw he Cerberus symbol on the side.

"Release our two prisoners' and give back their shuttle. They can take Shepard along for the ride, but it will be a while before he wakes up again." Yoko explained.

"Ouch, looks like I'm on the couch now. Maybe I should have told you what I was doing first or send a message first. Ok I will keep my distance then and wait for the shuttle." he told her as she cut the comm. channel.

…

_One day has passed_

_Minuteman Station_

_Terminus System_

…

Shepard stood in front of the Illusive man using QEC machine to process his hologram. He noticed Shepard's scars' were all gone.

"Shepard," TIM greeted him. "Good work on Freedom's Progress, despite the little snag at the end."

They had just returned to Minuteman Station, where he been told to report immediately to The Man. He was starting to wonder whether he had anything better to do with his time.

"The Quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing," he informed him. "No new data, but it's a surprising olive branch, given our history. You and I have different methods, but I can't argue with your results."

"You ever think about playing nice once in a while?" he asked.

"Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat," he replied smoothly.

"But more importantly, you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions." as Shepard sighed.

"Why do I have the feeling you knew about them already?"

"Your friend Doctor Minamoto already had the proof in hand. You wanted to know if I was telling the truth about them," TIM admitted.

"The Collectors are enigmatic at best. They periodically travel to the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens, usually in exchange for their technology. When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived; back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 Relay. Until now, we had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors."

"What are the Collectors getting from these deals?" he asked.

"The Collectors' aren't very forthcoming about their motives," TIM said.

"Generally, they seek out species with rare genetic mutations or abnormalities. They pay slavers and mercenary groups' exorbitant sums to obtain these specimens. And then they leave. But they've never targeted a single species before. And their previous sample sizes were in the dozens, not the tens of thousands."

"Miranda and Jacob said the Collectors travel to and from the Omega 4 relay to deal with clients. Why hasn't anyone gone through the Omega 4 relay before? What do we know about it?" Shepard asked him

"Dozens, if not hundreds of ships have gone through the Omega 4 relay," TIM replied. "Unfortunately, none of them have ever returned. Our best guess is that the relay reacts different to Collector vessels, allowing them safe passage. If they can manipulate relays, that's just further evidence of their connection with the Reapers."

"Any ideas on why they've shifted their focus to humans?"

"If they're agents for the Reapers, it could be for any number of reasons," TIM replied. "Obviously, humanity played a huge role in Sovereign's destruction. That might have been enough to draw their attention." he told him as he put his drink down. "What really concerns me is why they bother abducting the colonists. Once the humans are paralyzed, why not just kill them?"

"You're holding something back," Shepard bluntly told him. "How do you know the Reapers are involved?"

"Why don't you ask Dr. Yoko Minamoto that question? I know she would gladly answer that." he told him as he shifted a little bit. He knew Yoko will notice something was really wrong.

"The Council and the Alliance want to believe the Reaper threat died with Sovereign. You and I know better. I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them, despite Dr. Minamoto's prevention plan. It's not working at all, but slowing them down.

"Going up against the Collectors and the Reapers isn't a fight—it's a war. That'll require an army or a really good team." he told him.

TIM leaned over and tapped a spot of empty space. A holographic console display obligingly flickered into view, streams of text scrolling upwards. "I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists, and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them. Finding them and convincing them to work with you could be challenging, but you're a natural leader."

"I'll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance, I'll notify you and your team. Be ready."

"I'm sure you have an excellent list of candidates," he smiled politely, "but I've already got a squad, the ones who helped me stop Saren and the Geth." People he can trust, he silently added.

"That was two years ago, Commander," TIM reminded him. "Most of them have moved on... or their allegiances have changed."

"Where's Kaidan Alenko," he asked, ignoring his earlier words for the time being.

"He's still with the Alliance working at the Ascension project," TIM replied. "Promoted, I believe. His file's surprisingly well-classified."

"Where is Ashley Williams," Shepard asked him.

"She has been promoted and her file is classified I'm afraid. Ever since you died, her career took off due to Admiral Anderson." he told him.

"Where's Urdnot Wrex?" he tried next.

"He returned to Tuchanka and hasn't gone off-world in over a year. He's trying to unite the Krogan clans."

"What about Tali? She already helped us on Freedom's Progress."

"That was unexpected. I need more Intel before I commit to that."

"Garrus Vakarian?"

"The Turian disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even we haven't been able to locate him."

"Liara T'Soni?"

"She's on Illium. My sources say that she's working for the Shadow Broker if so, she can't be trusted."

"Yoko Minamoto what about her, she may have knocked me out along with Miranda and Jacob? She took out all my implants and she gave organic parts." he asked him as he hesitated for a moment.

"That woman is very confusing and yet mysterious still. She anticipated that the fact you were being revived. So she developed another way of fixing you up without the majority of your implants. It took less than a day to remove and give your original organs matching your DNA sequence." he told them.

"So she cloned my DNA?" Shepard asked him as he shook her head.

"I don't know how she did, but the fact your body is hundred percent original. She may be double edge sword, but the council might not even let you recruit her." he told them.

"Why is that?" Shepard asked him.

"She became a top tier Spectre that they can rely on to finish the job. The council's personal grim reaper and I didn't expect her to be on Freedom's Progress. Let alone to see they let you go means something big is waiting in the wing. She has worked on the Collector threat the longest and she can be recruited." TIM told him as he Shepard noticed she was the only person only going against this threat alone.

"Okay, I get it," He gave up for now. "They're not available."

"You're a leader, Shepard. You'll get who you need."

"I'm also a Spectre," He reminded him. "Maybe I can get the Council to help us out."

TIM smiled politely. "If you think you can convince them, by all means. Just remember you've been gone a long time. Things have changed."

"We'll see," He replied. "For now, you worry about the Collectors. I'll make sure my squad's ready."

TIM took a puff from his cigarette. "Good. Two things before you go: first, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant Salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know how to counteract the Collectors' paralyzing seeker swarms." Shepard snorted.

"I haven't even started, and you're telling me what to do? Wouldn't it make sense to go to the only person that has more knowledge about the Collectors'?" Shepard asked him.

"I'm giving you direction; what you do with it is up to you," TIM corrected. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

"All right, what's the other thing?"

"I've found a pilot I think you might like. I hear he's one of the best. Someone you can trust."

He tapped a control and cut the connection. As the comm. grid descended, Shepard wondered who the hell he was talking about.

"Hey, Commander." Shepard turned around.

"Just like old times, huh?" Joker said, with a goofy grin on his face.

…

"I can't believe it's you, Joker." Shepard told him as h noticed Joker wearing Cerberus symbols'. He saw he was standing up straight without a problem as he headed up the stairs with him.

"Look who's talking. I saw you get spaced." he told him.

"Got lucky," he shrugged. "With a lot of strings attached, how'd you get here?" he asked him.

He paused. For a moment, I thought he was tired. We had been climbing a couple sets of stairs now. Then I saw the look on his face: a mish-mash of disappointment, frustration, betrayal and bitterness.

"It all fell apart without you, Commander," he answered sadly. "Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Crew was broken up, records were sealed and I was grounded. Well almost covered up. Yoko managed to convince that Reapers existed, but they isolated to say one existed. She was only one that protected us the best she can without making herself look like a fool."

"The Alliance took away the one thing that mattered to me. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus," Joker added bitterly.

"You really trust the Illusive Man?" he asked him.

"I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do, except Yoko. She may have her questionable goals, but she does mean business." he told him.

"But they aren't all bad," Joker conceded. "They saved your life. Let me fly. And there's this."

Shepard's ears pricked up at that last bit. Sounded like Joker could barely keep himself from jumping up and down, and wrecking whatever medical progress he had made.

They had paused by a large dark hangar. He gestured towards the windows. They only told me last night," he said softly.

As if on cue, the hangar lights started turning on. One by one, they illuminated its contents from bow to stern.

First I saw the cockpit, adorned with a pair of flaps that thrust forward like the crown of a graceful monarch. Then the hull was gradually revealed. Sleek and aerodynamic, not because of the necessity of such a design in the vacuum of space, but because of the sheer inspiration that came from seeing something that could glide, no, _fly_ amongst the stars. A pair of wings graced her stern like a bird ready to take flight. Each wing was equipped with a set of two-dimensional vector engine nozzles to provide the maneuverability she needed to dance between mass relays.

"It's good to be home, huh, Commander," Joker said casually, after what seemed like an eternity.

"Guess we'll have to give her a name." he told them as they sat there. "Joker can you tell me this? How can you stand up straight?" Shepard asked him as he looked down dancing a little.

"Well my girlfriend got mad at me for not able to dance with her. So she made up a way to reinforce my bones from not breaking again. The surgery took place right before I dropped out of contact with her. She was made at me when I came towards the station. I think I got the couch now seeing how mad she was." He joked as Shepard shook his head.

"That's unlike her to release known criminals' back into terrorists' hands." he told him as he nodded.

"True, but I see that the council was most likely behind the decision. Why spend her money or the Alliance money when someone else will address the problem?" Joker asked him as Shepard nodded.

"True, but we need her data and expertise for the mission." he told him.

"Yeah I got a message from her father and Admiral Anderson. They want to see you ASAP at the Citadel Shepard. Unless you want to her father the 100, 000 credits you owe him. Then pay Yoko back millions of credits' for you human like surgery." he told him as he smiled.

"She knows a lot about what's going on about the enemy and what happened to my friends in two years'." he checked his Omni-tool to see dossier list. "Apparently she is on the list along with another potential crew member at the Citadel. So we will head their first to catch up on old times." he told them as Shepard told a crew of people to place the word Normandy on the side of the ship.


	8. All according to plan

"_My meeting of Shepard, the lack of meeting Shepard in person didn't assure me that his personality was left intact. Though it comforted me to know I made him mostly human again. The process to make him was a slow and methodical yet practical. Miranda Lawson became great because of her genes that her father Henry Lawson gave her. It's your spirit and personality that make you great and she wouldn't understand that. The process may be controversial, but his mother Hannah agreed to it. Using reversed engineered collector technology. We took an egg from her body and managed to track down Shepard father. Secretly taking sperm from him, I managed to create a twin of Shepard. The fact it didn't have any cognitive function made it easier to deal with, growing it up inside a tank, and cryo frozen until the day of his return. Liara thought Cerberus can bring him back the way he was. She was wrong to begin with, but I could, though my mother took certain liberties' to enhance him. Helping his eyesight out, reflexes, condensing his muscles like a Drell to make him stronger, and to make sure he can reproduce naturally on his own. That was Hannah's condition, before we even got started the project. At least I can tell her son isn't a monster. Yet with all the implants Cerberus placed in him will be repurposed and studied can help along in the future." _

…

_Hyaku Shiki_

_January 4, 2185_

_6:00 A.M._

_FTL _

…

Yoko sat in her pilot's chair as she sat back wearing her zero suit. She was surrounded in a blue colored stasis sleeping; Hope was humming to herself as she managed the data. She dropped the stasis around as Yoko shifted in her chair.

"I see that you slept well…" Hope murmured.

"Thank you for waking me up; do I have any messages' in my personal terminal?" Yoko asked her as she nodded.

"You have three messages' from Padock, Shepard, and Garrus. They are mostly written emails sent to you and two of them are really important." she told her.

From Genetic scientists Padock Wiks:

"I_ heard some disturbing news lately on mega from one of my old teammates. Mordin Solus has encountered a unique bioengineered plague. It matches the collector technology you captured when you first met the Collectors'. He asked me if I seen such a thing before, but I could only reference it to him that they are similar. It affects every alien species on the station except Vorcha and humans. He suspect the Vorcha made a deal with the Collectors. You need to talk to him in person for more details since we are both too busy right now. I also will hand you supplies from the clinic. He needs these supplies badly so he can help treat the patients'. I asked Hope to head to Omega instead of the Citadel."_

"_Ok, it's a life and death type of thing, so I can understand why I'm going there_." Yoko reasoned as she tapped her console to Garrus message.

From your favorite Turian Garrus Vakarian

"_Hey Yoko it's been a while since we last had a chat together. Over my Spectre career I did a lot of good things that the council respected me for. I worked on Omega for quite a while now and I ran into a big problem. All three of the major mercenaries groups are trying to kill me. Right now they are sending out a lot of freelancers to help them break me down. So if you're free right now I really need your help right now. I will turn on my beacon so you can find when you do go to Omega."_

_See you soon_

Yoko had a look had a mixed looked on her face, she didn't know to laugh at his situation or take it serious.

"It looks like Garrus is in trouble yet again, but he managed to at least turn on his beacon for you." Hope told her as Yoko scrolled down

From Commander Shepard:

_Hey Yoko,_

"_I would to thank on fixing me up, despite you cracked my face open with your gun. I had glowing orange scars all over my face, something Cerberus said they wanted to fix. Yet the machine was too costly apparently. My body feels even better now and I'm noticing you made some improvements to my body. You made me almost into abnormal human being using some type of gene mods. I wish to talk to you in person and I want to sit down and talk about the rest of my friends'. The Illusive Man said they were unavailable, but can you tell me what's been going on lately. Miranda was really scared to even mention about you let alone the Illusive Man. I'm heading to Citadel Council to explain myself. Maybe you're just too cautious to even send a letter back to me for a reason, though keep safe because I'm bound to run into."_

Yoko frowned to herself, to see the man struggling to pick up the pieces. For him it was like yesterday, yet for everyone it was two years. Cerberus thought they can box him into a corner thinking no else was a doing a thing about. There were plenty of setbacks that pulled her away from focusing on the Collector problem. The fact that they needed to improve and create new technologies, new technology was great, but if it has some type of bug in it. It was practically dead weight to them. Catching a high amount of the Seeker swarm was needed so they can pan out some ideas' on how to counter. Cerberus was always looking for fast results without even taking the proper safety features. Most of their projects put so much pressure on them to succeed, but fail and the end seeing they didn't take their time.

"Hey Yoko, we are coming out of FTL now, and we are dropping into Sahrabrik cluster now." Hope told her as the purple waning light died down. Yoko took another look at the glowing red station.

"It looks like I'm stepping into the heart of evil again." she told her as a waning white light cover her. Her armor covered her head to now as she looked over to her weapons.

"I think you should try the new supply pylon program that Elijah created. I'm amazed her managed to even place Omni-tool like functions on these babies." Hope told her as she nodded. The weapon system delivered her new SMG she developed called Hellfire. The old Midnight model was useful against shields' and barriers without a doubt. It looked quite effective against armor, yet the silencer made the shots less powerful over time. Using Geth technology and how the Geth naturally enveloped their weapons with plasma. An incendiary effect was place on the model without a built in silencer.

"I take you like the new guns that Mr. Stark made, he knows a lot about guns. He was researching all the weapons you created together and managed to make some badass things. He placed them in the armory for you to try out. You can see I order up Hellfire with a new assortment of guns for out to play with you. You see that a gun that resembles the DMR, it's called the battle rifle." Hope told her as Yoko lifted it up to see the rifle was different from the DMR completely. "It utilizes precise, three-round burst functionality, making it a formidable mid-range, semi-automatic weapon."

"Yoko told her as she looked down the scope of the gun.

"Nice, its' almost like the Incisor sniper rifle that law enforcement uses." Yoko told her.

"Except we made it first before them, and it's a popular gun for police on Eden Prime. The incisor rifle shoots fifteen bullets' and holds thirty more bullets. The battle rifle holds thirty-six bullets and holds 108 and reserve. Plus I seen the numbers the Incisor Riffle has and our gun blows it away. The fact that the gun is based on stripping shields and the fact that soon as you shoot one person. They stagger and the bullets' usually miss, but not gun your holding in your hand. Richard made sure that the gun didn't miss its mark let alone give it weak fire power." Hope told her as she nodded.

She looked up to see a new pistol on the wall as well as she picked it up. Her suit sensors' picked up it uses six bullets.

"Is this a redux on the Magnum?" Yoko asked her as she nodded.

"Of course the fact Stark hated the fact that the Carnifex was the galaxy's magnum. So he managed to call this Magnum redux and it incorporates a biotic and plasma enveloped rounds. So it leads us to our last gun on the rack, the new and improved beam rifle. With replaceable E-Cap so you can recharge the battery using your suit's power system." Hope told her.

"Thank goodness I don't use power cells, they always drain too quickly. So who you suggest we help first?" Yoko asked her.

"I suggest letting the drones do convert drop offs into the slums where Mordin Solus resides. Aria T'Loak has locked down the area. The drones can infiltrate the air ducts for the time being. You should focus on Garrus and get him out of their without dying. I suggest you hitch a ride with the Blue Suns and carry some explosives with you." she advised as Yoko nodded.

…

_Omega _

_8:00 A.M._

…

"_I had a full hardy breakfast and now I have to go save Garrus. How the hell did they even catch up to him? I know I taught him how to cover his tracks… unless someone betrayed him. It makes sense seeing that Garrus is no fool. If people don't share the same goal like you, I tell them to let them go and you would be okay. Hopefully he listened to me on that, but I brining a grenade launcher attached to my shield, two beam sabers', and some special hand held demo charges. Death to all that impede me to save my friend, hopefully he will have some countermeasures in place." _Yoko thought.

The air lock opened up as she walked out. She had to leave Hope back so she can manage the drones' and infiltrate the sealed off slums. She would hack into the Blue Suns channel to see if they were coordinating the movements together.

She walked further into the as she looked at her tact-pad to see the beacon was activate. It displayed his health was ok, but it looked like he was getting tired. She was lucky she dock her ship beneath zone where Garrus was. She was looking at old blue prints that matched Omega's final construction.

"This place is a damn maze almost, but I can see my jetpack can help traverse the station." She told herself as she flew up to only route that wasn't blocked. She landed with a thud as her suit stabilizers balanced her as her cloak turned on. Her motion sensor showed an air-car was coming and one person was running up to this position. The air car sat down on the ground as the door opened as three humans got out of it. They looked like new and upcoming rookies' as they got out.

"So you are the new guys that signed up?" The Batarian told him as they nodded.

"Yeah, we signed up for the mission so where is Archangel?" he asked him.

"Go up and head to the boulevard and get to third barricade. Talk to Sergeant Cathka, he'll will tell you when to go in." he told them as Yoko follow the men up.

"_I've scanned the area and the fact the men you are following are just cannon fodder. You see that the only way to get to him at this time is a bridge_." Hope told her.

"Excellent strategy, but he is just borrowing time and delaying the inevitable. I see he must have sealed off the lower levels' already." Yoko noted

"_Correct, but they have a team working on fixing that problem, your explosives will come in handy. But you need to be creative Yoko. They have YMIR mech and LOKI mechs' on scene. Plus a disabled gunship that he shot down single handily." _Hope told her.

"The more I hear about Garrus feats', he has impressed me already." she told her as she walked along the steps with them. The men she followed signed up for a suicide run and the Blue Suns' didn't want to advertise so others' would be discouraged.

The door open as the men walked into the room see saw Eclipse members' sitting in the room already. It looked like they were defiantly waiting on the plan to work. She walked after them as some of the men mingled with them to see what was going as Yoko turned to data pad that was out of place.

"_I wonder if there are credits' on this one._" She picked and pouted to see it was just one about information. Useful information she can show to a certain person as she read more thoroughly.

_Tarak_

"_I've spoken to Garm, and he and his men are onboard. Assuming that this operation is successful, we can count on high morale and extensive buy-in from the men. From the losses we've taken, possibility exists that we won't have enough men needed continue on to the objective. It's clear, though, that none of our organizations would be ready to move on Aria without assistance from the other two._

_Jaroth_

Yoko inserted the data-pad into her skirt armor as she walked along with men again. They continued forward as they went into another door. She turned to see another door on her left as she turned around.

"_Interesting, everyone else is so wrapped up on killing him." _she thought as she opened up the door to see a room filled with mechs. She walked in closed the door behind her and locked it. She let her optical cloak drop as she surveyed the room. She saw a data-pad that Eezo smuggling accounts as she hacked into with ease. It yielded only 4000 credits as she a small crate of Eezo beside it. She waved her hand over it letting collect some element zero. She walked over to see a computer having friend and foe IFF needed to program into.

She tapped a few keys on the console as she smirked.

"_Little modification to the IFF will do nicely, thought LOKI mechs are running on another system. The heavy mech needs to turn on his master and friends'." _She thought as she finished the hack to change friendly signal to enemy instead. She cloaked herself again as she walked out the door again. She checked around to see if the cost was clear. She looked at everyone that was about to start the assault again for the day. She walked out the room and headed left as she made it out the door. She saw a data-pad on the ground as she started a remote hacking program. It was a Blue Suns and it was their protection money accounts.

"_First it was Eclipse element Zero smuggling accounts and now the Blue suns. They must be hell bent to kill Garrus now so they can continue." _Yoko collected another 6000 credits to her personal account as she walked along the boulevard. She saw another lock door that a red holographic symbol as she looked around for a moment as she started another hacking it.

The door opened with ease as she walked into it. She walked into a little storm to see the room as the door closed. She dropped her cloak as she looked to her right to see a Medi-gel dispenser. She grabbed the last of it as she moved over to collect a submachine gun schematic, power cells, and taking unprotected account with the Blue suns gun smuggling operations'.

"_All three of them are so focused on killing him they are leaving everything open." _She quickly absorbed 4000 credits into her account as she turned on her cloak again. She walked back out the door as she walked up to see Blue sun was standing guard at the door. She couldn't pass through any doors' with people standing there. She made it forward even more as she turned to see the gun ship. She walked forward to see the free lancers were basically sitting down getting some shut eye. It was the last time they will actually get to wake up.

"Garrus, can you read me?" Yoko asked on her radio.

"_Yoko I didn't expect you to be here so soon… I was working on my target practice_." he said on his radio.

"What the hell did you to all of them to make you hate you so badly? They even have a heavy mech and a Gunship here to help kill you." she told him as he laughed on his end.

"_Well that's a long story, but I believe you can at least slow them down." he told her._

"I'm already ahead of you…" she told him as she attached bomb under the pilot seat. She jumped back down from it as she walked past the barricades' with ease. She jumped down as she made a light thud this type by landing on her toes. She walked forward across the bridge with ease as she made it all the way towards the building. He scanner was picking up multiple med-its and thermal clips. She made her way towards the stair case she picked up Omni-tool schematic; she would make good money selling it to someone who needed it. She made it all the way upstairs dropping her cloak. She turned to the left to see a wall safe on the wall as she opened up to gain 6000 more credits'. She made way to sniper perch a she saw Garrus sitting down in protective spot.

"I see you got my message." he told her as she shrugged.

"I leave you alone for a couple of months and look what happens," she looked across the bridge. "Everyone working together trying to kill you…" she told him as he laughed.

"True, enough seeing I have done this for months. The council doesn't complain about my run in with the gangs. They send corrupted Eezo to Citadel Space, intimidate witnesses', and perform hits on people." Garrus told her as she nodded.

"True, they are always an issue in Citadel Space. Last time I checked the Eclipse try boarding one of my ships a couple of month's back." she told him.

"What happened?" Garrus asked her.

"My security team let them onboard on purpose. They may have the high-tech gear, but the lack the training to even use it. Ever since Jona Sederis is in jail they seem a bit less proficient. I even had time to hack the heavy mech and change its IFF around to target them, and then I placed a high explosive under the pilot's seat of the gunship."She told him a she threw the detonator to him as he laughed.

"Only Tarak gets to ride that baby, I never saw an explosion from inside of a gunship. But thanks for coming I was getting really tired sitting up here." Garrus told her as she waved it off.

"So how well defended is this position?" Yoko asked him.

"Going straight to business before chatting each other up fine, but you need to know that lower levels are sealed off for now." he told her as she shook her head.

"You do realize they have teams trying to dig through the blockade. Let me set up some explosives in some key areas' first before we talk." Yoko told him as he nodded.

"Fine then I will just keep watch for now. I opened the door to the lower levels for you." Garrus told her as he looked up from the tact-pad to see no one there. He looked around for a moment as he shrugged. He looked back to keep watch over the bridge.

…

It was hour later as Yoko finally made it all the way back up to Garrus to see he was really tired now.

"Good timing, there about to send some people across the bridge. At least twelve freelancers this time." he told her as she held up her shield. She waved up as grenade launcher as unlatched spinning. She pulled out her battle rifle in time as the two guns magnetically connect the grenade launcher was underneath the barrel now. She laid down a small pylon as it expanded more to show supplies were inside.

"You should sit and get some real sleep Garrus. I can handle twelve people without a problem. Then we can actually talk about what happen when your rested up." she told him as she took point on the sniper's perch.

"Fine, I'm not complaining… I will get some shut eye as soon the group is dealt with." Garrus told her.

"I almost forgot to tell you I saw Shepard a couple of days ago…" she told him as he had a look of shock on his face.

"Seriously, was he like one of those husks we saw when we fought Saren?" Garrus asked her just to see her shoot a grenade into the barracks as it bounced up to here screaming as people pour out the base as she shot another grenade round it didn't go off yet. "Looks like that grenade is a dud…" he told her.

"I still have my finger on the trigger…" she told as Garrus sniped one with ease. She let go of her finger as the grenade went off as EMP burst took out their shields. Yoko as everything slew down for her as she raised her gun up as she let several rounds of her gun up. Six mercenaries' fell as she looked up see six more coming as she shot another round from her grenade launcher as it bounced into the group of them. It went of killing three of them as she quickly turned her attention to the last group of mercenaries as she blew them away with two shots each. She quickly reloaded as Garrus at there for a moment. "You do realize the mantis does do well against shields Garrus and yes Shepard is back. I managed to capture him on Freedom's Progress. I managed to make him not look like some synthetic zombie." she told him as she took some ammo from the pylon as she reloaded her weapons.

"Really do you think he will come?" she shrugged as she sat there as she looked at the bridge.

"Well if you made a lot of noise on this station it will no doubt reach Cerberus? They will no doubt try to recruit you, but let's change up the rules now. We should march on and just kill them all while they wait and prepare." Yoko told him.

"So you're changing up the plan and you want to go on a two man assault against possibly over fifty people easily." Garrus asked her as she shrugged.

"Well it's better than sitting around here until they tire us out with cannon fodder. Hope can you get me a camera feed and status update on what the mercenaries gangs are trying to do." She asked her as she tapped her helmet.

"Hope?" Garrus asked her.

"_Right now they are holding a group meeting; they didn't expect you to be here. If you act fast you can catch them all in the same room. I can operate the Heavy mech from here and take out any people coming to rescue them." _Hope told her as she nodded.

"Okay be on standby then… and Garrus Hope is an A.I., she was the one helping me track down leads against Saren and help running my ship when I'm away." She told him as he seemed a bit shocked. "The council approved her development if you're wondering." she told him as he calmed down.

"Well let's get down there then and say hello then." he told her as they made their way out the base. Garrus and Yoko made it the barricade as they stopped right under it. Garrus looked at the switch. "How powerful is this bomb?" he asked her.

"More than enough to blow up a gun ship." she replied as she tapped her tact-pad to sync with the mech's activation. Garrus clicked the detonator switch.

***BOOM***

The explosion road the level as Garrus hunkered down even more bombs rippled through facility even on the lower levels.

"By the spirits, it set off of the explosives!" Garrus shouted as Yoko waved him up to get up over the barricade quickly.

"_Heavy mech is online and I'm commencing my attack run." _Hope told her as Yoko nodded. They looked over to see the people in the room with Gunship were all dead and the people away from the room were dying gasping from breath. Shrapnel embedded into their bodies as Garrus unloading his vindicator into them. Screaming was going throughout the whole boulevard. She launched a grenade down the hall way. It exploded killing a pocket few of people as a few people came out of the room across from them. Garrus was gunning them down as casted a stasis bubble on them. She threw a warp into them as Garrus used an EMP at the explosion blew them away.

The two quickly ran through the door as they saw run blue suns member going to a Medi-gel dispenser. He looked up only to see Garrus gun him down as he reloaded.

They got on both sides of the door as Yoko tossed him a flash bang and an arc grenade. She gripped her grenade launcher this time.

"Everything is running smoothly, but the leader of each gang is behind this door." She told him.

"True, enough but we have grenades and they are in such a small room." he told her as he opened the door. A hail of gun fire went out as Garrus tossed the two grenades it. A brilliant flash blinded them as the power went out in the room. Yoko shot four grenades into ceiling as he closed the door. The explosion went off as they waited for a moment. They were no sounds as Garrus opened the door.

"Hope, give me a status update, how many hostiles we have left." Yoko asked her.

"_All hostiles are down for the count, they were all just sitting around unprepared. I will make the YMIR mech do a sweep of the area and send some drones in to check." _Hope told her as Yoko nodded. The two walked into the room to see the body parts were scattered across the floor with blood everywhere.

"Damn, I should pick up a different weapon. No one would ever use an old style grenade launcher; they use super bulky grenade launcher. Yours on the other hand just connects to your gun and easily manageable." he told her.

"That's because I use practical approaches and easy method to it. We need to check in there to see if everyone is dead first." she told him as he nodded. Garrus was looking at Salarian's body. "Who's that?" Yoko asked him.

"The Eclipse leader on Omega his name is Jaroth I was hunting that bastard for weeks." he told her.

"So why did he join up to fight you, it had to be personal?" Yoko asked him as Garrus set him down.

"He has been shipping tainted Eezo all over Citadel Space. Half the goods I seized back at C-Sec came here from his team on Omega. I took out a big shipment a while back and killed his lieutenant in the process. I think it was his brother…" Garrus told her as he moved on to a Krogan having some tanks on his back. He pushed him over to see his body was mangled up by the explosion.

"So he must be the leader of the blood pack on Omega?" Yoko asked him as he nodded as the sound of the heavy mech rumbled through boulevard.

"This Garm and he was one tough son of a bitch. I tangled with him once. I caught him alone, none of his gang to help him. I still couldn't take him out. I've never seen a Krogan regenerate that fast. He's a freak of nature; I should have just used explosives like you. He just kept at it until his Vorcha showed up. It was close, but I had to let him go." he told her as he moved over to a Batarians' body. "This one was Tarak he blue suns leader. I corner him in his own home once and almost got him." he told her as the saw some movement in the room to see a tanned woman coughing.

Yoko reached down picking her up by her head. She was bleeding badly as she looked at her.

"Archangel I should have known you had a trick up your sleeve. A surprise attack from the inside and we didn't expect you will have a person on the outside." she told them as Yoko eyed the woman she had unique hairstyle that went with her red hair. She had dark green eyes as Yoko ran a scan on her. In next ten minutes she was going to die of blood loss.

"What's your name?" Yoko asked her.

"Why should I tell you, I'm practically…" she grunted in pain as Yoko turned her head.

"It's the difference between you dying and living. I'm a doctor and it depends on you answering my questions." Yoko asked her as Garrus looked shocked.

"That's Tarak second in command Jentha, she may not be bad as Tarak, but she is no doubt a criminal. Why save her?" Garrus asked her.

"There are more things out there than black and white Garrus. Just because she was your enemy today doesn't mean she can't have a second chance at life. You joined this gang mostly out of loneliness and to escape being poor didn't you?" Yoko asked as she looked up at her eyes to see some sorrow. "You see this where it gets when you run with people that don't for comrades life. Jentha my name is Dr. Minamoto; I'm offering you a second chance at life. Start it over the right with me all you have to do is say yes." she asked her as she looked up at her.

"Would you really give me a second chance after all this?" Jentha asked her.

"Why not, I have given people second opportunities' that were really evil or confused. Plus the fact I didn't kill you yet, so what's going to be Jentha. Join me and have a good life with people caring or die with the gang that never cared for other people's lives except family and their own live." Yoko asked her as she nodded coughing.

"You sound more like a decent person… I got nothing to lose. I promise to help you then…" she coughed as Yoko laid her down on the table administering first aid to her.

"You're seriously going to take her under your wing…" Garrus asked her as Yoko nodded.

"Garrus, dispute your feelings over what a bad guy can be. They can change, even Shepard himself would have given her second chance if she turned out to be a decent person." he told her as she put her to sleep now. "Plus she knows everything about the Blue suns' and with her knowledge we can help deal blows and save more lives." Yoko told her as Garrus nodded.

"When you put it that way it does make sense. I hope your right about her; she won't betray us as soon she heals up." Garrus told her as she shrugged.

"Soon as they hear that everyone died here, they would forget her altogether and move on. She will know truth after a couple of days. Hope I want some collection drones out here on the double. I want to collect everything of use." Yoko asked her.

"_Aye-aye ma'am, I already have some on the way. They heavy mech is protecting the entrance and I will see if I can get an air car to your position." _Hope told her as she nodded and she proceeded to do more work on Jentha.

…

_Six hours later_

_Hyaku Shiki_

…

Yoko sat in her CIC as she sat back in her chair; she was extremely tired operating on Jentha. She wore her zero suit still as she drank some coffee.

"_Damn that was long four hours of surgery. She had major blood loss, lacerations', shrapnel embedded into her organs, and some broken ribs. Nothing I can't fix, but doing one man surgery on top of a big salvage grab. Garrus telling me where their main base of operation' was. Grabbing all the useful stuff and burning the useless things like drugs. I have a full cargo bay full of stuff now and I need to lighten my load. I still have a lot of supplies to drop off and give to Mordin clinic personally." _she thought back as she heard the elevator rise as Garrus stepped out of the elevator. She turned around a little to see him.

"Nice ship you got here Yoko, I can see why you didn't like us aboard your ship a lot. Tali would have poked around the system and practically taken them apart." Garrus joked.

"If she messed with my multi-billion dollar idea, I would be upset. Though I like to keep things short doing hostile situations. How did it come to this Garrus?" she asked him as he sat down.

"It was almost my fault, but thankfully I looked back on the things you said. If people don't have the same heart and passion as you, cut them loose and you will have no problem. I built up a team just like Shepard did. There were twelve of us, including me, former military operatives, C-Sec agents, and the usual. I had a Salarian explosives expert. Pretty sure he'd spent time in the Special Tasks Group. My tech expert was a Batarian, believe it or not. Not the friendliest guy, but he could hack any system ever built." he told her.

"So you had people that volunteer to come with you?" she asked as he nodded.

"You saw Omega—it was full of thugs kicking the helpless," Garrus responded. "I formed my team to kick back. We weren't mercenaries. At least, nobody was paying us. We made money by taking down slavers, pirates or gangs that went too far."

"That's it?" Yoko asked him.

"That's it. We didn't shake anyone down. No civilian casualties. That was our rule. Every member of my team had lost someone to Omega's gangs. We weren't out to get rich. We were out to make those bastards think twice before murdering someone in the street."

"Then what about your team contact's?" she asked him as he paused for a bit.

"Some were murdered for having some association with us, but we managed to payback for that and tried harder to keep them out of our way." he told her honestly.

"I can see you all didn't make friends with any of the gangs." she told him as he nodded.

"I got three separate merc bands to work together to take me down," Garrus agreed. "My boss back at C-Sec would be impressed."

"So how did you organize your team?" Yoko asked him.

"It was simple. We'd hit their shipments, disrupt activities. Get under their skin. Make them angry. They'd come charging right into our well-prepared kill-zone, crossfire and snipers, clean and surgical. They never stood a chance." he told her as she nodded.

"So what really went wrong?" she asked as he dropped his head.

"It was my own damn fault. One of my people betrayed me." he told her. "Luckily I asked the question if they wanted to leave. They said it was getting a bit dangerous now since I was pushing for areas' on the station we couldn't get to at first. Luckily they turned out right, and they avoided a Blue Suns ambush. Sidonis asked for my help on a job. When I got to the meeting point, nobody was there. Then I knew without a doubt I was set up by him." he told her.

"What makes you think he betrayed you?" Yoko asked him.

"No. I've put out feelers with some old contacts. He booked transport off Omega just before the attack. He also cleared out his private accounts before he left. He sold me out and ran."

"So you want to hunt down Sidonis? You do remember that I support revenge Garrus." Yoko stated as he nodded.

"True, but you do support justice." he told her.

"If the reason why he did was petty you can kill him, but if it wasn't his fault let it go ok." she told him as he nodded.

"Well it sounds like a thing I can understand, but have you talked to Shepard in person." Garrus asked her as she shrugged.

"You want to do it right now." she asked him as he nodded.

"Go ahead, but where is your comm. room." he told her as the CIC dropped into the floor as they sat in there chair. The terminal came online in front of him.

"I'm going to check on my patient, while you chat up with Shepard." she told him as she moved towards the elevator.

"Well I get to chat up with Shepard now, while you're away tending to Jentha." he told she nodded she took an elevator down. Garrus looked at the computer and typed up some names, the names of his teammates.

…

_Omega_

_6:00 P.M._

_Normandy docking_

_Shepard's P.O.V_

…

Miranda, Jacob, Kasumi and Shepard —who were lumped together as a squad at some point had barely gone a dozen meters when we were accosted by an overly friendly Salarian.

"Ah! Welcome to Omega!" he grinned. "You're new here, aren't you? I can always tell. Allow me to..."

He abruptly stopped when he noticed the Batarian walking towards us. "Oh... Hello, Moklan! Heh. Um. I was, er, I was just—"

"Leave, Fargut," Moklan growled in a low, raspy voice. "Now."

"Of course, Moklan!" Fargut babbled, offering a limp salute. "Whatever she wants!"

He would have probably continued on and on, had Moklan not taken a threatening step towards him to scare him off. As he scurried away without another word, Moklan shook his head in an obvious sign of dismissal before turning his attention towards Shepard.

"Blasted scavengers," he muttered. "Welcome to Omega... _Shepard_."

"You know who I am?"

"Of course," he sneered. "We had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus Systems. You're not as subtle as you think."

"Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife now and present yourself."

"Cut the attitude," I scowled. "I'm not here to cause problems for Omega."

"Things explode around you, Shepard," Moklan scoffed. "You can't blame Aria for keeping an eye on you. Afterlife," Moklan repeated. "Now."

EDI came over the comm. while Moklan walked away. "I'm receiving quarantine warnings about the slums where Dr. Mordin Solus runs his clinic. Anticipate resistance at the transport station."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Any leads on Archangel, nothing…" EDI stated as the group stopped.

"Nothing we receive information that he was here on Omega, people just don't disappear into thin air." Miranda explained.

"The recruiting station mentions something about Archangel. Yet I can't find the mercenary groups comm. channels." EDI stated.

"It sounds like a black out to me." Jacob muttered.

"It sounds like the grim reaper came by and made everyone disappear." Kasumi joked as they turned to her.

"I think that sounds just about right, we should meet up with the other recruit here first. Aria may know what happened to Archangel." he told them as they walked up end of the hallway. A man kneeing a Batarian in the gut, the Batarian dropped to his knees, his head rolling around on his neck. One of his four eyes must have focused on me, because he started begging "Please... you have to help me."

"No one said you could talk, jackass," the recruit snapped, kicking him again.

"Are you Zaeed Massani?" Shepard asked.

The man turned around, forty-something, balding, grey hair. Wore a yellow and black hard suit with white markings—not Cerberus markings, though_—_and enough dents and scratches to show it had seen a _lot _of use, funny gladiator-esque frill on his right shoulder. There was also a curved scar running down the right side of his face from his eyebrow to his upper lip, with a tattoo of some sort just below.

"Yeah, that's me," he said with a rough British accent. "You must be Commander Shepard. I hear we have a galaxy to save."

"I assume you've been briefed?"

"I've done my homework," Zaeed nodded. "Cerberus sent me everything I needed to know."

"Wish Cerberus did the same with me," Shepard mused, looking down at the Batarian. "They said we'd be picking up one man. Not two."

"Batarian delinquent," Zaeed shrugged. "He pissed off someone rich enough to hire me to go after him. And for my 'bring him in alive' rates, even."

"Please..." the Batarian moaned. "I didn't do it..."

Zaeed abruptly swiveled and kicked him in the jaw. "I said shut it.

"Tried to lead me on a chase all over the Systems," Zaeed scowled down at him. For the first time, Shepard noticed some markings—a tattoo on the right side of his neck and some strange pattern on his upper right arm. "He should have known better. These people always run to Omega."

"What's going to happen to him?" I asked.

"I'm going to turn him in for the bounty," Zaeed replied. "I don't much care what happens after that."

"What's your relationship with Cerberus, anyway?"

Zaeed took a step forward. "Easy. Cerberus is paying me a lot of money to help you on your mission. That's the long and short story."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not many mercenaries' would take a suicide mission for the pay."

"Most mercs don't get an offer like the one Cerberus sent me," Zaeed replied. "This mission doesn't sound like good business. But... your Illusive Man can move a lot of credits."

"He's not 'my' Illusive Man," Shepard corrected him. Good to have you, Zaeed," Shepard finally said, shaking his hand. "We have a lot to do."

"That's what they tell me," Zaeed nodded. He pulled out his pistol and used it to motion his Batarian captive to get up. "I assume the Illusive Man told you about our little arrangement?"

"No," he said flatly. "I guess he decided to leave that information out of the dossier."

"Good thing I asked," Zaeed snorted. I picked up a mission a little while back, just before I signed on with Cerberus, thought you might be interested."

"Oh?"

"You heard the name Vido Santiago?" I shook my head. "He's the head of the Blue Suns," Zaeed explained. "He runs the whole organization. He recently captured an Eldfell-Ashland refinery on Zorya and is using their workers for slave labor," he went on. "The company wants it dealt with."

"I think we can do that," Shepard replied

"Good. Get it out of the way so we can concentrate on being big goddamn heroes."

While we were talking, the Batarian prisoner had gotten to his feet. He chose that opportunity to bolt. Unfortunately for him, he only made it a few meters before Zaeed capped him in the knee.

"I better turn this thing in before it starts to stink," Zaeed sighed.

"Before you go," Shepard stopped him. "Here's our squad comm. frequency. We have some more people to pick up before we leave this place, so you might as well meet up with us rather than wait on the Normandy."

Zaeed nodded once the frequency info was uploaded to his Omni-tool. "Right, I'll be locked and loaded next time you're ready to get some killing done."

…

It took a while for Zaeed to drag in his bounty as the rest of team waited for him in front of Afterlife. They made it to the front door by that point, judging by the big neon sign that named the establishment and the long line-up. The bouncer, another Elcor, recognized them and let them in. They went through a long corridor with pictures of flames flickering on the vid-panels covering the walls, dealt with a pack of wannabe thugs and entered the club.

Zaeed darted his eyes around the room for a moment.

"You're expecting trouble?" Shepard asked.

"I knew a bar out on the front, a lot like this," Zaeed replied absently. No idea which front this was, though. "Me and some friends got stupid one night."

"Uh oh," he commented.

"Damn right," Zaeed snorted. "Long story short: tempers flared, followed by pistols. We all got out except my old buddy Narko. Places like this are slaughterhouses dressed as nightclubs, I shit you not."

"We were told to 'report' to Aria," he said Zaeed.

Zaeed recognized the name. "Aria T'Loak. She's the Asari who runs Omega, as much as anyone runs a shithole like this. Up there," he nodded at the lounge as they headed that way up towards the lounge and up the stairs towards the private lounge.

…

An Asari was standing at the top, with various guards surrounding her. Shepard moved past the guards.

"That's close enough," she called out without turning around as soon as I reached the top. On cue, the guards pulled out their weapons and aimed them at the group. The rest of the squad followed suit, but it was clear that they were outnumbered. Shepard didn't move an inch towards his guns.

Aria tilted her head, and one of the guards—a Batarian who was trying to look menacing holstered his pistol and activated his Omni-tool. "Stand still," he barked. A miniature holographic representation of me appeared over his Omni-tool, slowly rotating in place.

"If you're looking for weapons, you're not doing a very good job," John observed, pointing to my pistol.

"Can't be too careful with dead Spectres," Aria said over her shoulder. "That could be anyone wearing your face."

"I was told you're the person to talk to if I have questions," He tried.

"He's clean," the Batarian reported. He moved to the side and Aria turned around, staring at him coldly. I took the opportunity to take a look myself. She had markings across her forehead and down each cheek, though they looked more like tattoos than the facial freckles Asari often sported. She wore a white leather half-jacket over some kind of black halter top. Tight black pants tucked into black boots.

"Depends on the questions," Aria said in answer to his earlier question.

"You run Omega?"

She laughed and turned around. Silhouetted against the neon lights of Afterlife, she thrust her arms out dramatically. "I _am _Omega."

She turned back and looked at me, as if to gauge his reaction to see he was not impressed. "But you need more," she continued, packing back and forth. "Everyone needs more something, and they all come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen if you're... feeling dramatic."

Aria rolled her eyes at that last title, as if acknowledging that her little act earlier was a bit of dramatization for easily-impressed schmucks and that she knew I knew it.

"All hail the queen," he cracked.

"Call me what you will," Aria shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. Omega has no titled ruler and _only_ one rule."

She sat down on a wrap-around couch and glared at me before uttering the one rule:

"Don't. _Fuck, _with Aria."

"I like it," he quipped. "It's easy to remember."

"If you forget, someone will remind you," she said, nodding to the Batarian who scanned him earlier.

"And then I toss your sorry ass out the nearest airlock," he sneered.

Aria gestured for him to sit down. He did so, picking a spot that would be perpendicular to Aria, but still allow me to see most of the people—and my squad—in the lounge.

"So, what can I do for you?" Aria asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "That's it? One scan and we're straight to business? People are usually more concerned about who I am."

"Your death was downplayed, but hardly what I call a secret," she replied casually, her face and voice looking like my untimely demise was just a boring tidbit that she happened to hear at some point or other. "I had to make sure it was really you. You could have been anyone, anything. Whatever you need will come out on its own. I'm curious, but Omega doesn't really care about you."

"I guess you must know what's what on Omega," Shepard said, continuing our small talk. "Since you're curious and all."

"Everything that's worth knowing, I don't usually give it out freely. Information is power."

"Mundane things, you can find yourself. Take a walk in a back alley, or buy one of the mercs a drink." She leaned towards him. "Better yet, talk to the entertainers. They give great tours. Just don't waste my time."

She flopped back, a slight scowl back on her face. He was starting to sense that she would only tolerate me so long before her impatience overcame her curiosity.

"Hey, it's my time I'm wasting too, speaking of time: you've been here for a while. Tell me how you got set up here."

Aria immediately got to her feet. "That's as privileged as information gets," she replied coldly. She never looked at me.

"Something I said?" He asked innocently.

"I have many friends and enemies I keep at varying distances. I don't count you among either. We'll see how useful you prove."

Aria sat back down and glared at me. "Short answer: mind your own damn business."

"I'm looking for Mordin Solus," He finally gave in. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"The Salarian doctor, last I heard, he was trying to help plague victims in the quarantine zone." A wicked grin spread over her face. "I always liked Mordin," she admitted. "He's as likely to heal you as he is to shoot you."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"He used to be part of the Salarian Special Tasks Group. He's brilliant and dangerous. Just don't get him talking—he never shuts up. If you really need to find him, just take a shuttle to the quarantine zone. No guarantee the guards will let you in, of course."

"When I get here my _friend _told me there was no information on Archangel." Shepard asked her as her smile dim as the group stood there quiet. Her guards were quiet as well. "I'm guessing that this is not an easy question to answer." he told her

"Archangel had half of Omega was after him." Aria answered.

"Half of Omega, so he is dead?" Shepard asked her as she nodded

"The three mercenary gangs were after him and pinned him down. Then nothing happened, no word or anything about all of them." Aria told them as they looked even more confused.

"I heard about that shit that happen on three boulevards' bombs went off and shook the damn station." Zaeed muttered as Aria nodded.

"All three of the gangs were killed in one fleeting moment. The recruitment agent for the Blue Suns disappeared along with their driver and another group of free lancers'." she told them as they looked concerned. "We call this person a Ghost or the grim reaper a person gets on my station and fucks everything up. I have no doubt that this person helped Archangel. It was a damn massacre when my men checked the boulevard. Hundreds of bodies, cut up, burn, blown up, and gunned down. They even had time to clean up everything of worth and paint an Archangel on the wall in their blood." Aria told them as they looked disturbed as the Batarian handed him a data pad showing the wall.

"So who is ghost or this grim reaper?" Shepard asked her.

"Ghost was a nickname I gave this person. The only to come to my station without even giving himself away, caused a gang war on Omega, fought the Collectors' and even Cerberus Agents'. Just kills people because they are inconvenient." Aria told as Miranda spoke up.

"The only person I can think of is Yoko Minamoto who can do this." she told as Aria didn't look surprise.

"So it was that woman… I should've have known that Massacre Princess was too discrete." she told them as she looked impressed.

"You don't sound mad about her blowing up your station let alone starting huge firefights." Shepard told.

"She understands the order of things; I represent control to the system. The others' are loose cannons' with their own agenda. She is only the one that will fuck with me time to time. Trying to grab her technology will only result in death for my men. I like her; she has certain flare for things and inspires loyalty. I practically have no opposition thanks to her, but she burns up the drugs I want to sell. Oh well if you're looking for Archangel you should chat her up." he told her.

"Do you know who Archangel is?" Shepard.

"Spectre Vakarian I believe, the one who she made into a Spectre." Aria told them as he looked shocked

"Garrus Vakarian is a Spectre?" he asked as she nodded as she turned to Miranda who was shocked as well.

"Damn, Yoko has done some extreme things' lately." Kasumi muttered.

"Thanks for the information." Shepard told her

"It's been along two years'; I think you may want to brush up on Shepard. Nexus Corporation waged a campaign against Cerberus at one year. The council told her to stop because they weren't' official army. Cerberus pissed her off by almost kidnapping her mother just to revive you." he told him as he stopped and looked back. He turned back to Miranda and frowned greater.

"Is this true?" Shepard asked angrily as Miranda frowned

"We wanted her help and she refused She killed at least fifteen of our men alone by herself. Shepard they had a way to revive the dead yet they didn't want to even go down that route. Look at you now she made you almost human again…" he told her.

"I want a full debriefing on this after we pick up Mordin Solus. I don't want any excuses, what the hell is going on exactly." Shepard told her.

"Understood Commander…." Miranda told him as they walked away as the radio came on.

"_Shepard we have a new status update about Garrus Vakarian." _EDI told them as he tapped his hear for the radio

"Go ahead EDI…" he told her.

"_Hey Shepard you guys got a nice ship, I was trying to send you an Email. You know that seems a bit impersonal so I wanted to stop by and say hello." _Garrus told him as Shepard smiled.

"Ok then, I got some time to spare to spend with an old friend, but where is Yoko?" Shepard asked her.

"_Well when we raided the bases for supplies, well she was heading to Atlantis to tinker around with." _Garrus told him as they left the building.

"Ok people, before we move on to get the doctor. I need update first on what's going with the past two years. Along with update on the new technology developed so I want be surprised." he told them as they went along back towards the Normandy.


	9. Your way isn't the right way

**A/N it's been a while since I actually added an authors' note to a chapter. I loved the responses' I have been getting lately. Though I need to ask a question should Yoko be on Normandy SR-2 and what type of conditions she would ask for if she teams up with Shepard. She is not going to work under him like the normal team function that the game usually does. It's more about the whole team actually coming together for the mission. I had to answer some questions in this chapter and present Shepard in a new light than some full paragon. Shepard's ideals' never matched the whole crew and we all know that. Like the fact if you want Zaeed's full loyalty points you had to go renegade for Zaeed's mission or make him accept his command. I really like to see people's responses on this chapter on their thoughts on what the next chapter should be like. I hope you enjoy my new chapter and review. More responses tend to make me move faster with my chapters'. Yet I need to take my time with them. I hope you understand**

...

"_I wonder why people call me a monster. Maybe they don't see it from my perspective or other people tend to end up dead. People always want to believe the truth until they are__ proven wrong__. My acts of so called ruthless violence actually save people lives. I saved Garrus's life and I even managed to paint an archangel on the wall with their blood. To give a message he still lived and that criminals' on the station beware. It gave rise to a legend on the station to show no one was above justice, but good intentions can pave the road to hell. People strive to do well but they are really doing helpful acts, such as helping a person pay off their debt, without teaching them a lesson the hard way. They will always rely on some type of assistance and fall back into trouble. The old proverb is something I go when I teach and instruct people. _

_"Give a man a fish and he won't starve for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he won't starve for his entire life."_

_Meaning:_ _It is better to teach someone how to do something than to do it for them. Shepard has never believed in this philosophy at all. He always does things for people and always gets in trouble for it. That's why he always attracted danger to himself and to others, if I didn't intervene on that day when Atlantis was called Virmire, w__ithout any doubt in my mind. Shepard would go with Captain Kirrahe's plan which results in the death with his teammates. What people never ask themselves'; how will get better if they rely on one person? Garrus lacked real military leadership training and discipline. Being with Shepard stunted his potential for being a leader. He still looks up to him and my influence was overshadowed. That's why I let him off my ship to reunite himself with Shepard, but not me. I wasn't going to be roped in as some pawn, by Jack Harper who wants to watch me and control my actions. He will regret that and the fact he ever crossed me._

…

_Omega _

_January 5, 2185_

_8:00 A.M._

…

Yoko sat there looking at her reports on several things of interest: Jentha's recovery, plague sample from the slums on Omega, recycled materials, and her new armor modifications. Jentha was still lying in bed asleep in a stasis pod. Hope was smiling as Yoko sat there wearing a long green army shirt that is partly unbuttoned, showing a red shirt underneath. Her lower half consisted grey pants, knee pads, and black boots.

"Even if Mordin Solus cured the plague on Omega, you managed to take a sample of the plague for study." Hope told her as she using her lab equipment to study it.

"Of course Hope, Cerberus may get some ideas' on how to use the virus against alien populations. They may even improve upon just to cripple some species. I know STG may have a sample on file, but they always hold back information rather than share it." Yoko explained to her as she looked up from her telescope. "Besides that it helps give more insight on how to protect foot soldiers' from Seeker Swarms. They are kind of like the plague, except they work in reverse. The specifically calibrated it to DNA that detects 95% percent match to our human physiology.

"Well I would like to tell you I had the drones break down all the stuff you collected back into raw material. We freed up a lot of space in the cargo hold, so we don't have to make a trip back home to drop off some stuff. I'm also detecting some foot traffic coming this way towards your docking zone." she told her as she pulled up images of Shepard and his team coming this way.

"Well it seems like they want to visit me, but I don't want any of Cerberus fools aboard my ship." she told her as she walked over to check on her armor upgrades.

"Are you going to show Aria that data pad you found?" Hope told her as she Yoko slipped on a green trench coat with a hood. She attached her sword to her back along with a SMG and a pistol.

"Of course, since I don't want to deal with them coming to my ship. Hope can you watch the ship for me when I'm gone." she asked him as she nodded.

"Will do, I hope you don't get into a gun fight on the way to afterlife." Hope told her as she waved bye.

…

Yoko made it to Afterlife building as she walked into the club, the lights bouncing off the club as she made it past the door. She saw Aria's lounge and made her way towards the lounge to see a Turian stop her.

"No one sees Aria, unless she asks for them…" as she her pistol.

"I think she wants to meet with me after I blew up her station. I have business with her and this one actually concerns her enemies, unless you want me to turn back around." Yoko explained as she showed a data –pad as he nodded.

"It better be good then…" he told her as she walked her way up stairs as she saw Aria take notice.

"So the massacre princess shows herself in person, blowing up my god damn station more than once. Even started gang wars on my station and you have the audacity to even show up here." Aria told her.

"I don't give a damn about some lousy station; I own a damn planet Aria. Where you inspire loyalty through fear, I inspire through more noble aspects. Besides if your enemies are disposed of then the remaining ones are easier to control. So it even out for you in the end." Yoko explains as her men looked at her crazily as she laughed.

"Fine then, I have to give you credit eliminating the fools on my station. I knew we can relate to something, so what do you need." she told her as Yoko sat down on the couch perpendicular to her. She used her biotic power to float a data-pad over to Aria.

"When I killing over the three mercenary gangs to help save my friend Garrus. I came along this data-pad." Yoko explained as she grabbed.

"Let me look at this." she said as she read it quickly as she threw at her Batarian guard. "Would someone like to tell me how this information slipped the net?" she asked him.

"I'll look into it." her guard mumbled rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thanks for the heads up Minamoto. Looks like I'll have to do a little cleaning up in my organization." Aria thanked her as she shrugged.

"I almost forgot about that thing. You know another thing we share in common is the great dislike in the Shadow Broker. One of you men here is a spy for him and he is standing here with us." Yoko explained as Aria's mood got worse.

"Prove it." she told her as Yoko got up from her seat and walked down to the staircase. She pulled a camera from the wall as she walked back up to her.

"I had a friend working as info broker tell me some things. Hook it into your Omni-tool and the person who set it, their Omni-tool will beep." she told her as she handed it to her. She quickly hooked it as she one of her Batarian guards beep as he tried shutting it off. Aria stood up from her chair.

"Give me a pistol." she stated as he waved his hands up in protest.

"Aria, you really going to trust a person like that killing machine, she could have planted it here on the station or her friends placed it here." he pleaded as Yoko threw her pistol to her. She shot one round into his head. His head was blown off with ease as she looked back to her gun. "Nice gun, I can see why you place restrictions on your weapons. Get someone to clean up that mess." she told her as she threw it back to Yoko as she put her gun away.

"Thanks my father's friend helped developed this gun, but I have to my leave." Yoko explained.

"Shepard asked about you earlier and I didn't answer for him. But I heard you have a great dislike of the Eclipse. Taking down the crazy bitch Jona Sederis out play made it easy for me to lower the Eclipse capabilities' on Omega, a location to one of their depots'. I don't really need it at all." she told her as she nodded.

"Thank you for the kind offer." Yoko told her as it transmitted to her tact-pad. "Thanks Aleena, I really appreciate it." Yoko muttered as she looked a bit shocked. Her men weren't not near them

"Who told you that?" Aria told you.

"Two old Krogan told me stories that somewhat match. Patriarch tells you came only with the clothes on your back to Omega. You really fell from a falling station onto the planet's surface. Yoko told her as Aria laughed.

"I knew something I liked about you after all.

"Next time if I do come I will bring some Honey mead along; you really do need to keep a leash on Anto." she told her as she left the private lounge as she jumped over the blood puddle.

It took her few minutes to leave the station as she looked around as she saw her tact-pad beep. She tapped on the radio to here a voice that wasn't Hope's voice.

"Dr. Minamoto, it's been hassle tracking you down let alone finding a radio frequency. My name is EDI the Normandy's A.I., Commander Shepard wants' to meet you in person. Would you come down to the Normandy please?" EDI asked her as Yoko shook of her head.

"I don't even want to even step foot on a Cerberus vessel let alone meet with an A.I. that spies on me and sends reports to the Illusive Man." Yoko stated.

"It's either that or Shepard and his team come to your ship, where you keep you secret projects' and your privacy sacred." EDI reasoned.

"Fine it better be good or else I'll kill at least one person aboard that ship." Yoko told her.

"I will tell Shepard that and I relay the information to Jeff. He would be pleased to know I finally hatched a plot to kill him." EDI told her as Yoko stopped dead in her tracks. "That was a joke." she told her as Yoko laughed as she made her way to the Normandy.

…

It took Yoko twenty minutes to get back to her ship to pick up some things. Then head over to the Normandy as she stood in decontamination zone of the Normandy SR-2. She had her hood over her head still. The process died down as he door open to reveal Shepard standing there along with Miranda.

"So I see EDI sent a message to you finally drop to actually meet in person." Shepard told her as he wanted to give her hand shake as she had her arms were crossed.

"I didn't come for pleasantries Shepard; I do remember that EDI promised that I can kill at least one crew member if you were just wasting my time. I was going to start with Joker since she doesn't like him." Yoko stated.

"What the hell EDI, she is plotting to kill me by using my best friend against me!" Joker shouted.

"Mr. Moreau, when you failed to listen to me. I had to make a proper response and Commander Shepard holds your life in his hands. Besides that she is known to kill Cerberus agents' with prejudice and your working for Cerberus." EDI stated as Joker looked over to him.

"Shepard, please tell me that you're meeting her for business. So you get her to remove EDI from the ship." Joker asked him as he nodded.

"I need some questions from her along with other things'. So Yoko can you follow me to my quitters so we can talk in private?" Shepard asked her as Miranda looked displeased as Yoko handed Shepard something.

"I remember to bring your helmet along this time, I found it on Alchera, along with the crash site of the Normandy." she told him as she handed him a ship a model ship. "I even had time to parts' of the ship and crafted into a model for you and Jeff since he loved the ship so much." as he smiled.

"Thanks for the gift, I'm assuming you already found everyone's dog tags and planted a memorial." Shepard asked her as she nodded. As she threw a box over into Joker's lap. She followed Shepard through the corridor a she noticed everyone was quietly working.

"It seems like I still quite the bogeyman, they are scared stiff." she told them as they noticed one man's hand was shaking as Miranda was a bit rattled as well. A reproduction of the failure ship, using my suggestions in the report it's nothing special, a special cabin, CIC, crew deck, Engineer deck, and storage bay."

"Are you always this critical over mass relay technology?" Shepard asked her

"Yes, to a point that the Normandy will sink against the Collector ship with a couple of hits'. You're using Reaper technology and the one that they can exploit with ease. Apparently you didn't get the message Sovereign told you." Yoko commented as they finally walked past the CIC.

"Call me if you need Shepard, I will be talking to Mordin on how to counter the Collector seeker swarms using the data we collected. We would get somewhere if we actually have some data to work along with some specimens." Miranda hinted

"True, but I like to let Mordin work first and see if it's possible." Shepard told her as she saw the red head working. Her eye focused on to the console to see.

"_Shepard has made contact with Yoko Minamoto and attempts to get her to help our cause to take out the Collectors' .Update in the near future after talking with Shepard."_

Yoko turned back around to see Shepard get on the elevator as it rode up slowly to the top flow. They elevator was hardly called an improvement as it move steadily up the top.

"_This ship is hardly is called an improvement, but I see it was just a reproduction just to make Shepard feel safe. If he tries to berate me on something, I will no doubt kick his ass around his cabin." _

The elevator finally opened as Shepard walked out first as Yoko followed suit. She walked into the room to see the room wasn't like any other see seen on a ship. Small desk full of things that Captain usually kept, models ship held up a collection of ships as Shepard placed his model ship in there, as he walked forward to see the fish tank on the side of the wall. A bed sat at the end of the wall along with armor case with clothes. Then a couch over to the wall, as she noticed he was wearing Cerberus fatigues for the first time.

"You can sit down you know?" he asked her as he sat his helmet on the desk. She sat down on the couch as he sat down on the bed. "Yoko I have a lot questions that Anderson and The Illusive Man couldn't answer. I want to know what happened to my friends and what they are up to know." he asked her as she shrugged.

"Ashley Williams is currently on a top secret assignment helping the fight against terrorism for a certain colony. She reached the rank of Operations chief and she did many co-op missions with me against Cerberus time to time." She told him as he nodded.

"Well it's good to see her doing well, but what about Kaiden?" he asked her

"Kaiden also did some missions with me against Cerberus. He was promoted to Staff Commander and he works with the Ascension project with young children. He is currently dating Rhana his long time crush who also works at the Academy. He eventually reconciled with her it about his actions." Yoko stated.

"I know what Garrus has been doing for the past two years, but what about Tali. What is she doing right?" Shepard asked her.

"Tali on the other have done mission and errands for the fleet. She worked with some fellow Quarians at my company and they recently bought some equipment for a mission into some dangerous space. The Quarian people are divided on several things, like the fact they can make peace with the Geth and they got another world to actually colonize that matches their home world. Yet problems still exist…" Yoko explained as he looked shock.

"Peace with the Geth, that's not possible. The Geth worked for Saren want to kill all organic life due the fact the revere them as gods." he told her as she nodded.

"While you were running around the Galaxy I went to Geth for answers and found we were just fighting a small fraction of their population they let leave. They call them the Heretic Geth and Sovereign bended them over to his will. Saren was never in control of the Geth. The fact that Heretic Geth never came back to fold has worried the main population. A fourth of their people actually went back home and half of that number for the new planet. The rest are still are stuck in space wanting to attack the Geth. Personally I think it's stupid." Yoko admitted as Shepard sat there in disbelieve.

"You accepted, just like that?" Shepard asked her as she nodded.

"Of course Shepard, they can't lie to people. I did for more for them than most of the admiralty board can ever do by just voting." she told him as Shepard nodded trying to take in the fact about the Geth.

"What about Wrex, what is he doing?" Shepard asked her.

"Wrex hasn't gone off world after a year. He was gathering and uniting the Krogan back t Tuchunka as their leader. To help secure a stabled Alliance, he paid me to come help restore his planet. It was big project trying to work with nothing and keep it Krogan approved. Yet he wanted to help make a neutral ground for all clans to meet. I advised that each place an artifact and a piece of their clans' history into one room. They wouldn't dare shouldn't up the place if they want everyone to be after them." Yoko explained.

"What about Liara then. I heard she worked for the Shadow Broker?" Shepard asked her.

"Liara can't work in Citadel Space anymore after your death. She wanted me train here to be information Specialists and she works as Info Broker. No doubt some or all of her information is monitored by the Shadow Broker. She wants to hunt him down and kill him for something he has done. Time to time, she sends me some good information others' don't know." Yoko explained coolly.

"How has the past two years treated you?" he asked her as she shrugged.

"I have been busy accomplishing things and developing things. I even managed to even produce a movie or two for fun. I even won Skyillian Five Poker match three times in a row now. But I started a serious campaign on terrorism and pirates that enter the area. I also taken on campaigns that Alliance can't do at all. When the Eden Prime War came to a close almost, I had all my teams find Heretic posts in Citadel Space and destroy the outposts. I even did a humanitarian act to help fix the Citadel and the problems. Finding the dead and collecting the remains of Sovereign were starters. Even helping with the reconstruction effort as well and upping up C-Sec security since they had a bunch of rookies on the job. I even had time to place some hotels', and some shops on the Citadel." Yoko explained.

"That's all, what have you been doing for the Collector' and Reaper threat?" he asked her.

"I don't have to answer anything related that seeing the ship is bugged all the way to hell and back Shepard. Unlike Cerberus I can keep my project and secrets safe even form the Shadow Broker. I didn't dismiss any claim about the Reaper unlike the council, well half of the council. I actually got them to admit they actually do exist, yet they only declared Sovereign was the last of his kind." Yoko admitted. "Other than that they would dismiss your claim all together, I didn't want you to look like a crazy man, besides your mother has been through enough. So that brings me to another thing, have you talked to your mother lately?" Yoko asked him as he paused.

"No, I haven't at all, I'm focusing on beating the Collectors' and Reapers' by gathering a team." he told her.

"It was all thanks to Hannah that you are more human now. We did a little controversial thing, but it was all thanks to her for making it possible. She wanted you to able to have kids still as part of the condition." Yoko explained.

"So how did that process go, because Miranda wouldn't tell me what she did to my body?" Shepard asked her.

"The Lazarus project used a massive amount of bio-synthetic implants to simulate your body. Everything was replaced, except your brain, it's intact, seeing the fact your helmet saved the day. I'm studying the implants to try and make some organic ones. The project we called Phoenix rising was implanted to counter Cerberus efforts in the event they couldn't fix you or you were being controlled. We took an egg from your mother's womb and your father's sperm and we proceeded to make a twin with your genetic structure." she told him as he looked shocked.

"So I had a brother now?" Shepard as she nodded.

"We homegrown that clone in a tank, but he was brain dead from the start. We just had a team of skilled surgeons' in each profession to help replacing the parts by hand. Though we had to keep the metal skeletal frame in, but we enhanced your body to a certain point. So you can wield weapons that humans can't wield like a Krogan shotgun for example." she told him as he nodded.

"Why did you tell me that even though they might be listening to the conversation?" he asked her as she her tact-pad to see a program running. The electronics' were flashing a bit.

"I run a program that scrambles all communication that runs on operating small devices in the room. Even if they did know about, making a genetic twin to person is hard enough and you can mess up so easily trying to do it." Yoko explained.

"I see, but what are you doing against the Collector threat. If you knew about them before the Illusive Man, why didn't you start up a campaign to beat them? Instead of sitting around and just developing something that's not useful, but putting money in your pocket." he told her as she instantly frowned as she got up.

"I come here to your Cerberus ship to answer god damn questions and to accuse me of not doing something, say the man who only came back from the dead. Cerberus already knew about the Collector's before I noticed them. So you're taking sides to a man that will sacrifice everything for his stupid agenda!" Yoko shouted in anger. "Ever since I found out the spies implanted in the Alliance they have been set back more than before. Then you have the audacity to call me out on this. Get facts straight before I take out my sword and gut you." Yoko gripped her sword.

"I'm saying that Cerberus is funding the mission and your running around not helping the cause to save Humanity. You came on Shanxi to save humanity when their needed was great as a little girl, then at the battle of the Citadel; you have all this power and resources on hand to deal with the problem." John told him as he received slap to his face.

"You insult me; you think I haven't noticed that!" Yoko shouted as he held face. "It takes time to develop technology properly. I worked with the Alliance rebuilding them up from the ground up into a proper military. Help train N7 soldiers' and people who need it. Provide them with new technology as well. I have done more than you ever could in your lifetime. Cerberus wants to now deal with the problem after reviving you that's absurd. Not everyone wants your help and the Terminus system was the hardest part for me to handle." Yoko explained.

"Than what have you been doing to remedy the situation?" he asked him.

"To the six colonies I helped saved and prevented Collector attacks. I developed barriers to keep them out and deploy AA guns along their colony, but not everyone wants my help and since I was an Alliance solider at one point. They never liked the idea I came to their colony, thinking that I was doing some corporation trick to get their money. I did what I could and saved the lives of those who listened to me." Yoko explained.

"Then why didn't you use your Spectre status to force them to take it. So you left all these colonies get taken away due to a little thing like that. You just let them die, because they wouldn't listen to you." He protested as he got punched in his ribs as he felt a metal bonds bend back as he fell back on the bed as she shook her head.

"To force my will on them will cause problems in the Terminus system. Sending my own ships and my resources out to colonies is just a waste of resources. It will cause a war with our colonies and Earth itself and the colonies I help protect. I had to make sure the planets I take care of are safe and they aren't counted on the list of Terminus colonies. You make me sick, at one time I respected a man like you, but you're just a husk of your former Shepard. I promised Hannah I wouldn't call what's left of her son some monster. This is goodbye and don't talk to me anymore." she told as she walked out.

"Yoko wait, I need to talk to you about one more thing'!" Shepard shouted at her as she turned looking angrily at him as she a vibrant blue mist covered her.

"Make it quick and good or else I blast this room with so much biotic power, it would crack your ribs and destroy this room completely." She stated.

"We need a counter for Collectors' and we have no technology for Mordin to study with. We need you for the mission and any possible research into the Collectors'." Shepard demanded as biotic pulse destroyed the fish tank as water pooled out onto the floor. She slammed him using biotics to keep him down on the ground.

"You have the audacity to ask such a request after a careless question. Hell no Shepard, I'm not your pawn and I won't join you. You can fight them all by yourself like you wanted. I expected an apology and not some stupid demand." Yoko stated.

"It's not a stupid request, people really need…" Shepard saw her pull out a gun and he saw her point her gun as it charged with a pink glow.

"I'm interested in your bullshit or your cause. I will do it alone and save everyone, but I'm not going to listen to anymore of your bullshit. I'm not handing Cerberus any of my research so they can exploit anyone." she told him as she shot him as he felt an electrical shock course through his body. He fell to the floor as Yoko turned to see the door opening as man in Cerberus armor had a gun in hand.

"Shepard are you ok?" he asked as he looked towards Yoko. "Put the gun down lady, I don't want this to turn messy." he told her only to see she a vibrant blue mist cover her. She waved her hand as he slammed full forced into the wall as he heard a cracking sound.

"Yoko no!" Shepard shouted as the man didn't get up.

"In response I show how powerless you really are you fool. I said somebody would die if you would take waste my time, but this will have to do. You always want to charge forward and think you are solving the problem and you aren't. Next time we meet you best have an apology." Yoko explained as she took the elevator down.

"EDI get Chakwas up here now, I have a man that needs medical assistance along with me!" Shepard shouted as her avatar popped.

"Understood Shepard all efforts into saving you and him are top priority now." EDI stated as Shepard fell unconscious on the floor

It took one minute of Yoko to get back to CIC as she saw the elevator open as people were staring at her.

"Anyone wants to stop me?" Yoko asked them as she took out her gun as they nodded their heads letting her by. The crew checked the elevator to see that it was being called to the crew deck. Yoko walked to exit she saw Joker had a shock look on his face.

"Tell Shepard this, I done more than he ever could do alone. He accused me of not helping all those people, but they were a lost cause. He wanted to place his feelings above logic and insult me with his claims. TIM feeding him crap, and he didn't know that I actually did something to slow the Collectors' down." Yoko stated as she left as Joker got out of his seat.

"Holy shit, she killed someone. EDI plotted to have someone killed!" Joker shouted as EDI popped up.

"Shepard's line of questioning upset her and likelihood of getting hurt was 95% percent. Truthfully Yoko Minamoto's efforts were within her bounds and she made logical choices. Due to conflicting personalities on how to handle the problem they were not going to agree on the matter. We needed her research to help make the mission a success and help the crew survive the suicide mission." she stated as Joker rushed to help Shepard.

…

_Three hours later_

_Shepard's P.O.V_

_Normandy's sick bay_

…

Shepard woke up from the table as he looked up at the blurry light and white ceiling. Chakwas held him down as the ground crew was in the room as crying. He saw Joker hand him a cup of water.

"What happened?" Shepard asked Joker.

"My girlfriend got so angry at your accusations she literally blew a hole through the roof. Shepard you knew she had anger problems', but you had to start something!" Joker shouted at him they looked over to see the man on the table.

"He almost died…" Shepard muttered as Chakwas put her head down.

"The force from her biotic power shattered his back into pieces. He will go through surgery and a lot of physical therapy to even get back on his feet. You on the other hand had your metallic bones bended back. We had some engineers come up here to help bend them back into place for me. I can tell her that the force she used was above normal. Chakwas told him.

"I knew Yoko was going to leave without a fuss, yet did say something to her to provoke a response from her before she went into Massacre Princess Mode." Garrus asked him.

"I asked why she wasn't doing a thing to help Humanity and the colonies. She had all these resources, technology, and the men to pull it off. I got heated as she slapped me and punch at me." he told her.

"Shepard you do notice that she is a busy woman, and she was the only one doing something to remedy the situation. Even if it was slowing down the collectors' technology doesn't create itself. Plus the fact the colonies were told ahead about them and they rejected the idea and even attacked her men along with them." Miranda told him a he shook his head. "True, we still can't defend against the Seeker Swarms and her research and possible capture of Seeker swarms. She wants to help, but the fact you can't do it without making a counter measure. We all know it takes time to do something proper." Miranda reasoned.

"I thought you were against her and her ideas." Shepard asked her as she nodded.

"I may not see eye to eye with that woman, but she has done a lost in two years. She could have supported our cause to stop them, but you said the wrong thing. Now we lost one crew member because of it" Miranda told him.

"What did the Illusive Man say about him almost dying?" Shepard asked them.

"He knew something like this was going to happen along the road with someone dead or hurt if they were going to try and talk to her. We will have another crew member to fill in his spot on the crew now." Jacob told him.

"So princess kicked your ass and just almost killed one person. I can say that's a good day for you." Zaeed joked. "She would have slaughtered half the crew."

"That's a good thing?" Garrus asked him as Kasumi and Zaeed nodded.

"I couldn't even stop her at all and I failed to even reason with her…" he muttered. "Is there any way I could talk to her again."

"Not at this moment, but we will place Joker up instead to talk to her. Apparently your authority and your skills doesn't gain respect from her." Miranda told them as they looked at Joker.

"Me, you want me to talk to her again and place my life in danger. Remember I'm on the couch still…" He muttered.

"True, we need to give her space for now, but we need a countermeasure for the Seeker swarms or we are sitting ducks. We need to reestablish connection with her and you're the only two person here she can respect without even bother hurting you." Jacob told him.

"Come one Joker you can't be scared of her. I don't want die because we don't have a countermeasure from the Seeker swarms." Kasumi joked.

"She is the only one that has some type of clue on how to beat the Seeker swarms. I seen her in action once or twice in STG days, one man army and capable of finishing the job alone. Shepard's authority over her is the problem; need to make a compromise for her to join the mission. I suggest she works with us, but you can't dictate her actions'." Mordin told them.

"You're asking her to be a lone wolf, while we are working together as a team." Jacob said in disbelieve.

"She may act like a lone wolf, but she is excellent leader and tactician as well. Even if she doesn't listen to orders she would no doubt help people in need. It depends on you if you want her to join or not. But the most likely thing she won't share hr research with Cerberus let alone keep it on a drive here." Mordin told them as everyone stood quiet as Miranda spoke up.

"Dr. Solus is right; we do need her, even despite the fact or lone wolf tendencies'. Joker, go smooth out some problems with her, we need her counter measures badly. If there are conditions to her joining we will have to accept them and move on from it. Who knows it may work out and will listen over time?" Shepard asked him as he sighed.

"Fine then, I will go alone on the creepy dark station to find sunshine. At least give me a gun before I go." Joker told them as Jacob threw him his gun. He caught it and walked away out the room.

"Are you sure we should accept her conditions'? She is rogue element to the team and she will no doubt not listen to your orders let alone my orders." Miranda noted.

"With no countermeasure or an actual specimen Mordin can test on. We will have to rely on her and I think we have no choice, we all know that…" he told them.

"I would hope so, because the next time you fight her you would lose and die again. Besides that it would be good to have another doctor onboard this ship." Chakwas told him.

"By the way you said my bones were supposed to be reinforced, how can she bend my metallic bones back with her fist?" Shepard asked her.

"She has to be augmented to a high degree to be able to do that. Ayumi Minamoto is a weird woman, but very practical. She was first doing genetic research for humanity. So of course Yoko would be the first augmented person in history on top the first biotic. She doesn't even have implants unlike the rest of you." Chakwas stated as they looked in disbelieve.

"Wait a minute she has no implants, how is that possible?" Jacob asked her as Chakwas shrugged.

"Maybe sheer willpower is the source of it, but I can tell that the augmentation in the womb was mostly likely a defect from element zero exposure. Ayumi was one the first people to actually study the broken down remnants of star ships." Chakwas suspected.

"Yoko was always a power house and she will grow on you after a certain amount of time." Kasumi told cheerfully as he shrugged.

"I hope Joker will be okay going alone…" Shepard told him as he sat back as the doctor checked on him.

…

_Thirty minutes later_

…

Joker made it all the way to Hyaku Shiki alone as he walked up outer hull. He saw a scanner wave over him with ease.

_Bio- sensor online_

_Detecting_

_Jeff Moreau_

"The last time I saw this ship, it didn't have that many bell and whistles to it." he muttered as the speaker turned on.

"So your Jeff, my name is Hope and it's nice to meet you. Do you want to talk to Yoko about the whole Normandy event?" she asked as he shrugged.

"Yeah, is she making lunch as well, I had to walk alone on this station just to get to her. I can see why she is so mad at Shepard, but I need to talk to her. Shepard is a jerk sometimes, but he doesn't know she is trying to do everything she can. She is most likely preparing for a war and can't spend unlimited resources to this cause unless she has some full proof plan." Joker reasoned.

"I will open the door for you." Hope told him as the hull opened as he walked inside. "She is making homemade roast beef sandwiches for you since you're here along with some cheddar cheese fries."

Jeff liked his lips happily.

"I was tired of the crap Gardner always cooked, Yoko makes the best food." his stomach grumbled as his Omni-tool beeped as he got some orders from Shepard and Miranda as he looked surprised.

"Are they serious? They are willing to do that, my god. They must be willing to do anything just to get the countermeasure against the Collectors'." as he saw the door open up to see Yoko standing there with her arms crossed.

"At least you didn't come wearing Cerberus colors' Jeff, is Shepard expecting an apology." Yoko asked him as he nodded.

"Well he is jerk time to time, and always thinks that jumping into something is always the answer. But we need to talk about you, Shepard, and what's at stake. You do realize why I joined Cerberus." he asked her as she stood there. "I felt guilty you know I let all those people died along with him. You even made Shepard even more human than machine. The Alliance grounded me and they wouldn't let me fly again. Even after your reinforced my bones, they said my condition was the main factor was why he died." he told her as they walked along as Yoko looked sad. "Going to you after that was the most logical choice, but after TIM told me that the Collectors' sank the Normandy and killed him. I signed up to deal with the problem, but I don't trust that bastard unlike you. You at least care about people's lives, but don't force people to follow what you say."

"I'm doing the best I can and technology doesn't develop when you want it. Shepard is being unrealistic and stupid as usual. The colonies I tried helping chased my men off along saying it was some Alliance trick or some corporation thing to gain money. I helped those who would listen and take up on my technology." Yoko explained.

"Well as long as you're cooking, can you at least listen to what I have to say first?" Joker asked her as she nodded as they stepped into the elevator.


	10. Paragon Lost

**A/N Hello it's me again with a new chapter. I would like to thank you guys for reviewing and I was taking into consideration of all the reviews I got from you all. I got some proof reading done and redone this chapter at least two times before I got the final product. So let me state something before it gets out of focus in the story. The 'Illusive Man' doesn't trust Yoko to stay true their cause, but he needs here help. A joint mission was established in place to stop the Collector problem. If you want more details read the story, but I do like to ask you guys a question. What do you think of Javik the Prothean entering my story along with the fact Gillian will make an appearance as well? That's all I need to say about the story and I hope you enjoy the story and review. It speeds up the process of the next chapter I produce. If you have thoughts on what the next chapter should be about. Say what you feel, it will make me feel a lot better. I'm out for now and I looking out for your responses.**

…

_Joker was old friend I met back in the year 2174 when I woke up. He always wanted me tell__ people to fuck off when I got high up in the world, but he tells me he doesn't trust people making more money than him, true but at least I cared for the little man in the world. I always set out on what I wanted to do and he respected that. Even though he left the Alliance and went straight to Cerberus. He was never for them, but his friend Shepard even though he liked me better because I was pretty and I can cook like a gourmet chef. I don't know if there are other deciding factors. I know I could never lay a hand on him, even if I help reinforced his bones. He was the one that helped gain respect by using bolder strategies' than the regular used corporation tricks. I was the only person next Dr. Chakwas that call__ed him Jeff. I did it out of respect for him __so I planned on to listening to what he had to say, even though I had no intentions of being coerced into them. I planned on doing it my way from the start or if they have problems with that I can leave them in the dust. I just need some willing people that will help me in the operation. Jentha was one of the people I will count on to help me in my quest._

…

_January 5, 2185_

_Hyaku Shiki_

_Omega_

…

Joker sat down in the kitchen on a bar stool as Yoko was cooking up some food for the two of them. She offered him a glass of coke to drink as they passed the time. It was silent as well as Hope played some soothing classical music in the air as Jeff took a swig of his coke.

"Ah that hits the spot; they give cheap synthetic type version of coke on the Normandy. I wish that Shepard would not be a cheap skate and get some better rations. Maybe if we had a chef on hand than someone that also works with toilets I wouldn't be even running to you." Joker told her as she laughed.

"You said we have to talk and I agreed to it. I bet Shepard is too scared to even to talk to me in person on my ship." Yoko told them.

"Well I will be scared too, when you bend in metallic bones with your bare fist and break all the bones in someone's body too. They are really desperate for help with this mission, but they don't want to bend over and take it from a woman." Joker joked as Yoko was moving around checking the over as she saw the sandwich was toasting slowly along with the fries.

"You realize that this was my mission and not your mission to save the Colonies'. I spent countless days, weeks, and month working on how to stop them. Finding spies within the Alliance had helping restructure them and building new technology for them with my personal touch, then the ships get stationed at the Citadel because we are allies of the Council. Jeff I'm preparing for a full out war. Yet he blames for not doing anything when he hasn't done anything to solve the problem." Yoko explained as he nodded.

"Yeah I can see why you have been bogged down on work, so the times making movies and winning poker tournaments was to gain the funds for supplies. The war with Cerberus was over supplies as well." Joker asked her as she nodded.

"I can't trust people that have a hidden agenda Jeff, Shepard is so blind to it. The Alliance can't even help with the problem. So they let Shepard go and see if he will handle the problem himself and help waste Cerberus resources. I can't argue with the Council for agreeing on that matter, but I was preparing to take down the Collectors'. A person that woke up from the dead and thinks he is all that is absurd, combat has changed significantly and he thinks he is better than me." Yoko told him as she took the food out the oven as she started to prepare his food. "I don't need Shepard at all to do this mission. He wants my research and just my talent to help make this mission possible."

"So you are planning to make a team of your own to take down the Collectors' without Shepard?" Joker asked her as she nodded.

"He thinks I'm going to give and give my research to people I don't trust. He is out of his mind; I will put my science to good use and use a ship that I know I can trust. He will just have to suffer without a true countermeasure to the Seeker swarm." Yoko told him as she handed him roast beef sandwich on his plate with cheddar cheese fries.

"Why not combine our efforts side by side then, I know you and Shepard don't see eye to eye on everything. We need to work together if we need to survive this mission." Joker asked her as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Why would I follow a dead man to battle and spiteful bitch that thinks Humanity should just crush other races? If Shepard wants to work with me, then he should drop his policies along with the Illusive Man. Shepard does not know the whole story behind what happened when he died. When you do go back tell him this, I don't work for anybody and they will work with me. I don't take exceptions to the rule or offer some tradeoffs, my tech, my research, and my rules. If they can't handle it, then they have no business running around the galaxy." Yoko explained as he nodded.

"Well if I'm going tell them to fuck off for you, can you send me back with at least dinner as well?" Joker asked her as she laughed.

"Ok Joker, what do you want for dinner since I'm in a better mood right now?" Yoko asked him.

"I want some Chili, since its January and plus it gets cold on the ship sometimes." Joker told her as she nodded.

"I will send you back with a big pot of Chili and a special storage container that sealed tight so germs won't get into." Yoko told him as he pumped his fist in excitement.

…

_January 10, 2185_

_Hyaku Shiki_

_Farthar system_

_Planet Lorek_

_12:10 P.M._

…

Yoko looked at the woman who was dressed in dress in a black tank top and shorts. She saw Yoko was wearing her blue zero suit. She was sitting in guest room overseeing Jentha who now just woken up.

"Who are you and why did you save my life?" Jentha asked her as Yoko laughed at her.

"Only I called myself Dr. Minamoto when we first met and you probably won't remember. I'm Yoko Minamoto president of Nexus Corporation. You must have heard of me before with movies or shoot outs time to time." Yoko told her as she looked surprised.

"You're the president of Nexus Corporation; I thought you would sit around in a desk or some lab trying to make money. We don't hear news about the Citadel space anymore, but I know that the Eclipse gang hates your guts the most, but why did you save me?" Jentha asked as Yoko shrugged.

"I can tell who the decent people are in a bad crowd. I'm helping you change your life style completely. The Blue Suns have declared you dead and moved on. The ones near Tranquility lane have been decimated as well along with every mercenary leader head on Omega. You will work for me and you cannot say no to this. I'm taking on the group called the Collectors' and you're going to help me do it." Yoko explained.

"So I'm risking my life again to work for a madwoman as part of her security force." Jentha remarked as Yoko shrugged.

"Most people wouldn't give mercenaries a second chance and I'm offering one to you. So let's get you suit up for a little training exercise. So let's you get suited up…" Yoko told her.

"Do I have a choice to say no?" Jentha asked her.

"You say no to me and refuse you owe me several millions for medical bill and I will charge more to the bill as time passes. Along with giving you a place to live with perks and a working pay check. I don't think you would say no to that." Yoko told her as she sighed heavily.

"Ok then, what about my armor, it's ripped to shreds and my guns?" Jentha explained as Yoko shrugged.

"Your armor couldn't be repaired so I scrapped it and manage to make something better out of it. I found out that your shield system would not recharge at all by the way. The reason I need your help is that people that wanted to deal with the Collector problem are a bunch of terrorists'. I don't want to help them at all, let alone give data and my resources for them. I am assembling a team of specialists to help me in this cause. They are abducting hundreds of thousands humans. If they are not stopped, we might see Earth disappear of the face of the galaxy." Yoko explained as she led her out the room from the crew deck.

"So this is some noble mission to save billions' of other people. You know I'm just a mercenary and I'm not much of a specialist." Jentha explained as Yoko shrugged.

"But you have skills and they can be refined, I plan on taking you down to a planet named Lorek. The eclipse gang has captured what looks to be a Cerberus agent that has sensitive data that can hurt Cerberus. So what type of weapons do you prefer than an assault rifle. I tend to use not mass relay guns unless it's emergency." Yoko explained as they walked into the elevator as it took up to first floor.

"I can use pistols and assault rifle." Jentha told her as Yoko nodded as they finally got to the top floor as Jentha looked around.

"I would give you the tour, but you can settle for exploration later. Right now we are on the CIC deck, with the armory and the tech lab are connected together. I developed something a little special for you." Yoko told her as they stepped foot in the armory as Jentha looked around to see multiple guns strewn across the walls. Several guns were already broken down on the table and element zero was siphoned into a tank on the other side where the lab was.

"You collect mass relay tech and break them down?" Jentha asked her as she nodded.

"Of course, but I don't like the idea you have to rely on element zero to a shoot a gun. It does decay over a number of years'. So I tend end up selling it all to the Alliance since it's a rare element. Now let me introduce you to your armor." Yoko told her as they walked up to a display case. She pressed the button there as it showed blue titanium armor sitting on the rank. The helmet was the shape of the usual elements everyone wore, except it had a green visor. Plus a special body suit for it was placed under it. Jentha looked at it with awe. "I called this one the Blue Destiny series, it has special modified interface called Devastator mode. The visor turns your interface red. It helps increases the damage, rate of fire, and magazine size. Though it will make you a little slower you can easily turn it off when you need to.

"Your letting me use this thing is this like some Alliance prototype." Jentha asked as Yoko shrugged.

"Well it's offered to the new class in N7 Destroyer soldiers. It gives strong-but-slow soldiers mech-like protection. Driven by assisted by mechanical strut system with special actuators, these frontline troopers carry heavy weapons onto the battlefield. It also had auto firing shoulder cannon and carries multiple fragmentation grenades. It uses a new prototype shield system that is a bit more resilient that mass effect shields. They absorb damage rather than deflect it away and it recharges faster. Yes it's yours to use Jentha; I took the full five days to prepare this one for you." Yoko told her as she handed her the suit. She looked at Yoko expecting her to turn around.

"You do know I need some privacy first before even putting this on first." Jentha gestured with her body suit as Yoko walked away out the lab for a moment.

"Tell me when you're done so I can help you put on the suit properly. I need to run some tests with you and get your familiar with the systems." Yoko told her as she waited outside for a bit.

"You can come back in." as Yoko came back to see the woman clad in snug body suit.

"Ok let's get you started on crash course with my tech first. I took out your Omni-tool and I replaced it with my tact-pad. This will take a full hour to explain the fine details to it.

"Why are your suits so snug to the body?" Jentha asked her being embarrassed by it being conformed to her breasts as Yoko laughed looking at her suit too.

"I designed my body suit on Quarian design, but its very effect and it doesn't chaff your skin as well. Hope can you run some diagnostics and holograms for me so I can show Jentha how it works." Yoko asked her as her avatar popped up.

"That's not a VI." Jentha asked in shock as Hope turned her head.

"People are still scared of the big bad Geth; please I worked with Yoko for a long time Jentha. I will help you learn the important things about your weapon and armor. The machines Yoko makes, I use them to repair the ship, weapons, and armor. So let's get started with your new armor." Hope told her as the conversation went on.

…

_Hour later _

_Shuttle inbound on Lorek_

…

Yoko sat across from Jentha as she was looking at her guns and familiarize with them. She brought the assault rifle called MAC. Shoots sixty bullets, has a built in flash light and concussive shot built into the gun. Along with the Eagle eye pistol as she looked up to see Yoko wasn't wearing her armor.

"Where's your suit at Yoko?" Jentha asked as Yoko got up from her seat as white light enveloped her whole body as Jentha looked in shock to see white armor covering her body now.

"Your shocked to see my so skin tight suit can do this. It's an amazing piece of technology I developed and refined. I upgraded now so it can store head mounted Vulcan's and my beam sabers'. I still trying to install the gun load outs into the suit, but I can wait awhile before that happens." Yoko told her as she took her Hellfire SMG, Battle rifle, Eagle eye, and her beam rifle as she loaded up on ammo.

"So what's the mission?" Jentha asked.

"It's quite simple this Cerberus agent was deep under cover and the Eclipse found out about it." Yoko told her.

"The Eclipse would most likely try to interrogate him for some data on Cerberus. Even if the person doesn't talk they would most likely try decoding the data themselves." Jentha told her as she nodded.

"True, but I want the data so I can damage Cerberus badly. I want to shut their operations down. This where we come in and take the data by force. So stay sharp and use the new gear to best of your ability." Yoko told her as the shuttle stopped.

"Here goes your stop and please do pick up something for me, please." Hope told them as Yoko laughed.

"Will do, I will keep shuttle here until you come back out." Hope told them as they jumped out of the shuttle as Yoko looked around to see a box of platinum lying around. She took out her SMG and turned on the disrupter ammo as Jentha did the same for her assault rifle. They quickly moved up the ramp as at they got to the door as Yoko held up a flash bang as Jentha opened the front door. Yoko threw her flash bang and it exploded. Jentha went in spraying MAC gun as it ripped right the through the troopers armor with ease. Yoko looked up to see a Vanguard turning towards them she threw a shockwave which rippled through environment as it knocked him back as she unloaded rounds into by her Hellfire SMG. He muttered crying in pain as he was being burn alive as he finally dropped.

The two took cover quickly as the back door opened up as Yoko tossed a flash bang into the group. Blinding them as the rocket launcher on Jentha's shoulder turned online.

"Devastator mode is online, cobra missile out!" she shouted as round blew up two Salarians' with ease as Yoko unloaded her SMG on the last one. Two more came out with two Asari as Yoko did a biotic charge into one of the Asari. Beam saber popped out as she spun cutting her in half with ease. The other one looked mortified as she raised her shotgun up only to have Yoko aim her head Vulcan on blasting her head. She moved back as her shields flare as she placed her saber up.

Jentha already reloaded her gun and shot down the Salarian with ease only to look up to see Yoko punch the Asari as she heard a crouching bone sound. She tossed a frag-grenade as the last one as it explode knocking out his shields as she pointed her gun only to see He was shot already as she looked up to see Yoko holding her pistol in her left hand.

"Jentha don't be afraid to pull out another gun, especially if you know it's quicker to dispatching your enemy." Yoko told her as she sat with awe.

"You're really good at this…" she told her as she just shrugged.

"I don't brag about my skills, but the Eclipse gang is not that disciplined. I'm detecting a lot of motion at the door on the left on the other side of the room. Can you set up a proximity bomb at the door?" Yoko asked her as she nodded.

"Will do, you're going to check on the computer on top?" Jentha asked her as she headed across the room as Yoko checked the backroom to see it was a small barrack. She walked over to see a medical kit as she pocketed in her armor. She walked over to the wall safe to hack to get 3, 750 credits'. She walked right back out to see Jentha was still wiring up the door or the trap. She tapped the a few buttons to see their logs.

_Report #1 (__Subject ID__)_

_Interrogator: Cpl. Geero  
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings_

"Eclipse targeted Agent Rawlings some time ago. We know Rawlings is connected to the encrypted data we acquired. The data could conclusively prove Cerberus' involvement in _Rachni__experiments. We believe Rawlings possesses a cipher that can be used to decrypt the data. Without his cipher, the data could take years for Eclipse to decode."_

Yoko tapped the computer to check the second log.

_Report #2 (Subject Captured)_

_Interrogator: Cpl. Geero  
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings_

"Agent Rawlings proved difficult to capture. Having insinuated himself on a ship bound for the _Attican Traverse__, he had won over the loyalty of the ship's crew who believed him to be a human dignitary on a mission of discovery. Our own agents managed to disable the ship and hobble its defenses long enough to extract Agent Rawlings._

We lost a lot of men to obtain this asset. This data had better be worth the expense."

"I'm done setting up the proxy and I'm getting into position." Jentha told her as Yoko nodded.

"Very good, we will set up to catch them on both sides of the room. Let me read the last lag and bypass the holding cell." Yoko told her as she set up on the other side of the room as she nodded.

_Report #3 (Subject Interrogated) _

_Interrogator: Cpl. Geero  
Subject: Cerberus Agent Tyrone Rawlings_

"The interrogation has failed. Despite some of our most advanced interrogation techniques, Agent Rawlings managed to evade our questions. When we applied more invasive methods, he proved resistant to those as well. Eventually Agent Rawlings' resistance caused tempers to flare. We consider it unfortunate that Agent Rawlings did not live to pass on the cipher.

We have men working to decipher the encryption now. As long as we control this data, its mere existence remains a powerful tool against Cerberus."

As Yoko pulled out her battle rifle now, she quickly hacked into the system. It unlocked the door as Yoko casted a stasis bubble on the first person as Salarian moved up just to blown off his feet by the mine as Jentha threw a frag grenade at the door. It killed one with as Yoko just squeezed a shot off from her battle rifle; she blew a neat whole in one of their forehead. She quickly threw a warp at the stasis bubble as it exploded. Two people managed to get by it and it was Salarian and Asari their shields were cut down by half.

"Drone out!" Salarian shouted only to see bullets easily disabled his drone. Jentha knocked his shield all the way.

"Concussive shot is out!" She shouted as knocked it him off his feet. Yoko hit the Asari with a warp as she ran out of cover coming towards her. Her shields went down as she looked up to see the white armor giant come towards her. Just to see a flash bang go off as she was blinded now.

Yoko step by her, she kicked the back of her knee to make her collapse. She pressed her knee to her spine and gripped her chin and scalp.

*SNAP*

Yoko looked up to see she a Salarian shot dead now as she looked down to see the Asari's neck was almost broken of her body.

"Why did you turn your back to Salarian even though you could have easily killed him?" Jentha asked he as Yoko laughed catching her off guard.

"I just a good judge of character Jentha, I wanted to see if you would take a shot at me or leave me to the wolves'." she told her.

"Wait this was all a test?" Jentha asked her as she nodded.

"Action speaks louder than words; some took bullets for me or killed the enemy. I call these little battle training runs. I did the same for Garrus for when he applied for his Spectre training let alone my security force. You can use more training, but you handle yourself well. Let me call in my drones to breakdown this place on the important things." she told her as several bug like drones flew into the room. "Let's go retrieve this data shall we." Yoko gestured as the two walked over to door.

She opened the door to see a gruesome seen as blood was on the floor and the equipment.

"What the hell happened in here?" Jentha asked her.

"Apparently he was too well trained and he didn't crack under pressure. The logs said that tempers flared and they didn't care anymore about encryption code." Yoko stated as she walked over towards the computer as her radio turned on.

"The data here can adversely affect Cerberus if this data went public. Do you want me to upload it into the data banks or send it to the Alliance?" Hope asked her.

"I will upload it to my ship and you decrypt it for the Alliance. I don't want Shadow Broker getting his hands on the data let alone Cerberus knowing what I did." she told her as she sent the information away to her computer as she turned back to Jentha. "Why did you join up with the Blue Suns?" she asked her as she lowered her head.

"It's a long story, I was really good mercenary. I was born on Omega so I knew how to use a gun and quick. It's seems like kind of a dream where I wake back up and think I'm reporting back to Tarak." Jentha told her.

"They treated you like a family and it was a way of survival." Yoko stated as they moved along as she nodded.

"Yeah, I was poor and my parents were already dead when I was teenager. It was a way to stay safe and make some money. Majority of things we did were do some protection mission or supply drop off. It feels kind of refreshing getting of that station…" she told Yoko.

"You do realize the only way out of the gang was death or imprisonment. No matter where I go that's the only two things I know what happens to mercenary in a gang. So will you give it another shot and do it the right way." Yoko asked her as the drones scurrying about breaking down the place as she nodded.

"You're trying to save Humanity again, if I think its start on a better life. Plus I have to admit I do love the suit, I feel like a walking tank." she giggled.

"Well you're the first one to sign up and thank you for coming. I plan on doing a change up with my ship for one I have in development. The Alliance is worried that Cerberus may not play it legit with taking down the Collectors'. I will be meeting Admiral Anderson and Admiral Hackett on this matter; I'm the only person with some type of a countermeasure. I worked on for a good year and I think I found a way to do it. They said a solider survived a collector attack on Fehl Prime. So we will talk to them in person." Yoko announced as Jentha pointed at her.

"I'm coming to the meeting as well, do I have to dress up in some formal dress?" Jentha asked as Yoko shrugged.

"Well most likely yes, I want you to at least look good. Don't worry about the clothing problem, I got you covered." Yoko told her as they walked away. "Hope, we can't collect everything, so put a word out to salvage team to come take the place apart."

"Aye-aye ma'am, I'm having fun time decrypting the data. If you give me at least a couple of days with it and I will see what's on here." Hope told her as Yoko laughed it off as the drones retreated back to the shuttle as they made their way back to her.

…

_January 10, 2185_

_Eden Prime_

_Station: Stargazer_

_Meeting room_

…

Yoko sat up in the meeting room dressed wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks, black high heels, as she sat in her chair in the meeting room. Jentha wore a smart black business suit with slacks as well. They looked out the glass to see Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson coming towards the meeting room. A tall guy with muscles carried himself wearing a light blue skin tight muscle shirt. He had dark blue pants with black boots, he looked kind of solemn. Yoko stood up as they came in as she bowed to them.

"Hello that you're doing well Admiral Hackett and Captain Anderson', you wanted to meet my about the abductions and the Collector threat." Yoko asked them as they nodded.

"It's good to see that you're doing well yourself. We received the data you collected from the dead Cerberus agent. You even decrypted it us instead of letting us do it. It would take years to normally do it, but I can see that Hope can handle that with ease." Admiral told her as they shook hands. "The Collector threat is out of the Alliance expertise and Citadel council."

"It's usually just you two, but I see you brought someone along this time." Yoko told them as Anderson gestured to her.

"This is Lieutenant James Vega; we brought him along since he had a run in with Collectors' as well." Anderson told her.

"So you're the famous Dr. Minamoto, ex-Alliance black ops N7 solider. Or the fact you're the Nightmare of Shanxi and the massacre princess of Torfan. So are we going to show our information to her and hopefully the A.I. can decrypt it?" James asked them.

"Correct, it would take months and years to decrypt this information." Hackett answered as Hope's avatar popped up now.

"So I have more data to look over, excellent I do love challenges. Why don't you send it to me to look at?" she told them as Admiral Hackett tapped his Omni-tool as they all sat down again. The room became dim as Hologram showed up. "Since we have some blue boxes from Sovereigns remains and I studied the Collector technology. It was simple to break through the encrypted data. Mr. Vega collected it and this is new information we don't have at the time." Hope told them as the Hologram popped up.

"So what did you find that's important Hope?" Yoko asked her.

"Well we have some good news and bad news. The data is on the Collectors' home world itself. The information says that's it is on the edge of a black hole. The Omega 4 relay is actually a new relay that's been altered compared to the ones lying around the galaxy. Standard relay transit protocols often result in a drift of several thousand kilometers from the intended position. However, this is fatal in the galactic core. Which proves fatal seeing the amount of debris of ship that passed through will rip your ship apart. It uses a Reaper IFF that triggers an advanced safety protocols in the Omega 4 Relay, which would ensure a ship survived coming into close range of a black hole. You need a Reaper IFF to actually pass through this relay without falling into the black hole." Hope told them as she calculated death.

"So where in the hell do we get a Reaper IFF?" James told them as Yoko shrugged.

"I don' know…" she trailed.

"You collected all of Sovereign's remain and you can't find a simple IFF. What kind of big help are you?" he told her.

"During the battle of the Citadel when Sovereign's mass relay core blew up, it blew away the IFF that was connected to it. Most of the good salvage was the bottom of Sovereign's body Mr. Vega, if I had one or the calculations from Collector's ship records on the distance to get there. My slip space drive can get us there without a problem, but the problem is the fact we don't the layout, defenses, and the possible enemy number." Yoko explained.

"Calm down Vega, your data was more than good, but we are missing some things to it. It's practically suicide going through the relay with only this information." Anderson told them as Hope looked around.

"So we are stuck around here waiting, while they are going to abduct another colony!" James protested.

"Is this matter a bit personal? All she is doing it trying to help the problem and yet you are blaming for her things that's outside our power?" Jentha asked him.

"We should have our ships and people posted around our colonies to keep them from being taken." he told them.

"That's impossible for the Alliance to do at this time." Yoko stated as he looked at her. "The fact that taking ships out there require resources and the fact the Terminus Systems will see this as some hostile act. Batarians might declare some type of war and our colonies will still be in trouble." Yoko explained. "Sending people in to defend colonies without a true countermeasure is practically suicide itself. So tell me why you are so adamant on sending people to their death?" Yoko asked as he clammed up.

"I was on assignment there to take down some mercenaries'. Then that nightmare came out of nowhere. I lost my entire unit to those bastards' over some damn Intel that's useless." he asked her. "You're going to take down the Collectors' without the Alliance and even Shepard is going after them. Let me come with you." he told her as she shook her head.

"I'm not bringing you along for my mission against the Collectors Lieutenant Vega." she told him as he got up going towards her and grabbed her by her neck.

"Then why the hell not… your sitting around looking pretty and not doing anything to settle the matter. You saved Shanxi, Feros, Terra Nova, and Eden Prime and now you want to act like a coward!" he protested as Yoko held up her hand to stop Anderson. She gripped Vega's wrist pinching the nerve in his hand making him stand still in pain. She kicked his leg and flipped him to the ground with ease.

"Because I don't support revenge Lieutenant Vega, I killed everyone on Torfan that opposed me except Major Kyle. I don't support revenge missions or the fact let a good person die for a stupid reason!" she shouted as she placed her foot on his neck. "A simple thing like that can escalate into something more and I might have to cut you down just like those men back on Torfan. You can't throw numbers at this problem or jump into the unknown without some type of plan. Your men didn't die for nothing, the information was useful." she told him as she took her foot of his throat.

He got off the ground coughing a bit as he got up looking at her.

"Then what are you planning to do it about it then?" James asked her.

"I will assemble a team of specialists' to come with me and the best of the best. Jentha was a mercenary that survived gang wars on Omega. I'm training her even more to use my technology. She has improved quite drastically over time, but I can't throw the same method at this problem. I was working on Countermeasures and new technology to deal with the threat. People seem to think that technology can be made with ease in this age. I planned to take down the Collectors from the very start. I even helped saved Colonies by adding AA guns and personal shields to keep them out. I'm fighting, but not the way everyone thinks, most of the colonies' in the Terminus system think it's Alliance ploy or corporation trick. I hate to say it right now, but they are statistic right now." Yoko told him as he calmed down.

"Ok, I can see you have a point to the matter…" he told her.

"You do realize I'm also as shrink too along with an ex-spook?" Yoko told him. "Don't penalize him for wanting to do something about the problem Hackett'. So tell me how did you come upon this data?" Yoko asked him as he nodded.

"I got it from a Cerberus spy that was working with the Collectors'. He acted like a colonist until they showed up. I managed to destroy their ship and kill the agent. Yet it was too late, I became the sole survivor on Fehl Prime. I always wondered if I made the right choice that day." Yoko told him.

"You made the right choice otherwise you be dead with them James. You were outnumbered without a doubt and the situation was getting out of hand. I suspected Cerberus may be behind the attacks and they want information and technology. Yet they want the Collector's out of the picture. Anderson is Ashley Williams placed on Horizon by so called outreach program to fight Cerberus?" Yoko asked him as he looked shocked.

"How do you know that?" Anderson asked her.

"It's because we have drones stationed on colonies in the Terminus system Admiral. Yoko is suspecting the Collectors' may be after key people." Hope told them as Yoko nodded.

"The Collectors' wanted Shepard's body my body as well and anybody connected to us are basically a target. The next place they will hit without a doubt will be Horizon." she told them.

"It's perfect place to hit if they don't have the AA guns in place, we should send a ship over…" Hackett told them.

"With all due respect they will move to another colony if you do that. I suspect Yoko wants to set up a trap for them." Hope told them.

"Since Mr. Vega wants to help badly and redeem himself, I want to place my barrier trick up. It only keeps out the Seeker swarms, but not the Collectors' ship and themselves. A team will help create bunkers and set up devices and use the guise of the outreach program to do that. Mr. Vega will lead a team of my people deep undercover as Alliance soldiers'. They all have some N7 training and it matches their outreach program parameters'." Yoko told them as Admiral Hackett and Anderson nodded.

"So the AA guns will do the work for us and destroy the ship for us? Smart, it lets us take advantage of the situation by letting them come to us. It's a doable plan and I know that the Lieutenant can actually enjoy, though it will take some months to set up the AA guns. Cerberus will purposefully send them there on purpose." Anderson told them as he looked at James. "Lieutenant you have no problem taking her men to set up a barrier on Horizon."

"I will accept the offer sir." James told him as Yoko looked towards Hope.

"Since Lieutenant is a pure solider, we need a sniper, two engineers', biotic, and heavy weapons specialists. We also need a marksmen and medic to the group. Ashley will be a part of this unit so it's eight people. We will need to more people to make a platoon." Hope told them.

"We will send Kaiden Alenko and Lee Riley to colony as well as support. So it's agreed we need this barrier, but I can see it depends on a power source just like the AA guns." Anderson told her.

"That means we need a countermeasure for the Seeker swarms'." Jentha told her as Yoko nodded.

"Over the past year I worked with a Salarian scientist named Padock on a countermeasure. My drones caught a huge swarm of Seeker drones to study with. They create a stasis around a person and trap them inside their body. The person can still see and be aware of what's going on. The version we created is not perfected yet. It confuses the small patches of Seekers to remain undetected." Yoko explained as it showed a video. "The results look promising and we will have a full countermeasure in a month or two at best. It will be a tight fit, but we can squeeze in the prototype to my team and the team on Horizon." Yoko explained as everyone nodded.

"This is your show Doctor and this is the best chance to take them down. Build your team up from the ground." Hackett told her as she nodded.

"Mr. Vega needs to take the space elevator down and meet with Mr. Stark. You will get to hand pick the people you want to come with you for this assignment." Yoko told him as he nodded as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sorry we acted a bit rash doctor and thanks for giving me a shot at these bastards." James told her.

"Just don't let your chance turn to vengeance, I care about the people I actually employ here. Hope will light up the floor leading to the elevator. You will be by the main building and you can't miss it. I will tell them to let you in the door." Yoko told him as he saluted as he left.

"You really going to send him back in to fight the Collectors' with your men?" Hackett asked her.

"Some traumas' are overcome by relieving it. He wants to know if the information was worth it and he knows it was. By leading a team he will decide for himself on this matter, even though he is outranked by Kaiden Alenko and Lee Riley. He will take control of my team only." Yoko told them as she walked over to the window

"You do realize you will need a ship with an actual crew this time." Anderson told her as she waved him over.

"I hope you won't get mad with what I done with SR-1." Yoko told them as everyone made it over to the window as the light turned on. A ship bigger than original Normandy stood in the Hangar as Hyaku Shiki docked with it as the words Tsushima was on the hull.

"It's beautiful…" Jentha muttered.

"It is isn't it? The stealth ship I proposed was a bigger than ones the Alliance wanted. I managed to modify it so it combines with Hyaku Shiki or dock it. Hyaku Shiki is half the size of the regular frigate. It takes all my technology and places it inside this ship. It functions better than Normandy and its stealth function can last for days. It can use optical cloak along a special IES system to remain undetected even in planet's atmosphere. It uses beam and Mac technology that's been improved over time. It also deploys mines and fire missiles as well. Guns can move around attack from behind and the rear for better engagement." Yoko explained.

"Impressive, you took the remains of the SR-1, yet you didn't take its old name." Anderson told her as she shrugged.

"We can't have the same name plastered on it; it's a new and improved ship Admiral. Plus it doesn't use all those hard seats with cushion like the first gen frigate. It's loaded for comfort and it has maxed out weaponry to even contend with dreadnoughts that the Turians deploys. It uses everything that Hyaku Shiki uses and Elijah and the Geth improved the ships energy performance for me." Yoko explained.

"So the Geth are really working with organics' now instead of being isolated?" Hackett told her as she nodded.

"Of course, but the Heretic Geth didn't come back to the flock. They are worried about that and they think Sovereign implanted a virus into them. They may try to infect the majority of the Geth that never followed Saren. Even he was being controlled in the end by Sovereign by the use of indoctrination machine installed inside the ship. I managed to collect it and studied before more cases pop up." Yoko explained.

"You're doing a good job doctor, but I suggest you start your recruiting as soon as possible. I suggest you go with the survivor of Akuze." Hackett told her as she looked at him.

"Him, I know you're not speaking about Corporal Tombs." Yoko asked him as he nodded.

"Of course he is in his right mind and he visits the Corporal time to time. Former Commander Edward Buck. If you don't want to I would understand, but I know he can take a lot of mental stress and he even survived Mindoir. He has survived encounters that were suicide and this is a suicide mission." Hackett told her as she nodded.

"Since it's the old SR-1, do you want to come along Anderson?" Yoko asked him as he smiled.

"Well if isn't a problem with the higher ups coming with you on a suicide mission." Anderson told them.

"I think they will understand, but we are needed back at Arcturus Station." Hackett told him as he nodded.

"Soon as you gather essential staff for the ship and the higher ups approve with the plan on Horizon and me joining. I will join up with you." he told her as they left the room in hurry to place their plan in order.

"That's an ambitious plan if I ever heard one; do you really think they will be on board with this plan?" Jentha asked her as they walked back to their seats' to sit back down.

"I show more than 90% percent probability they will like the plan in this order, but I got a call from formerly deceased Commander Shepard." Hope told her as she frowned as she sat laid back in her chair.

"I hope he came to apologize otherwise shut off this call." Yoko told her as Hope nodded as the holographic screen as it turned on as it slowly showed Shepard.

"Well at least you picked up my call on the first try. I sent Joker to talk to you and we get told to fuck off to me, Miranda and TIM. So the first thing you would like is apology itself I believe. I'm sorry and jumped the gun and said you were not doing a thing about. Then Garrus, Kasumi, and Zaeed got onto me about my behavior. We can't do this alone and TIM realizes this now. Can we work together on taking down the Collectors'?" Shepard asked her as she looked over to Jentha.

"What do you think I should do Jentha?" Yoko asked her.

"Well everyone has to understand that your word is better than this Illusive Man. We will not allow any data to come Cerberus way or be monitored by him. Let alone your authority does not overrides hers'." Jentha asked her as Yoko nodded.

"Pretty good set of conditions' and something I will say myself. I'm building my own team to take on the Collectors' and a more coordinated team that you can muster up." Yoko told him as he frowned.

"So you planned on ignoring my help and not even planning to work with this team?" Shepard asked her.

"I don't follow dead men Shepard and you aren't better than me. You need my technology to help fight the Collectors'. Padock is on the assignment, but we will welcome Mordin Solus to help finalize the countermeasure. So I would that this is team work, but let me get this through your skull. All information you acquire has to go through me along with tech and then we can work together without a problem." Yoko told him as he nodded.

"Fine then we finally has agreement, but can we dock with your station this time. I want to make some upgrades to the Normandy and get some shore leave." Shepard told her as she shrugged.

"I don't want anyone from Cerberus poking around and spying on me. We will have unfortunate accident on this station and it counts towards spy devices. I don't want anyone with a Cerberus Logo walking around the streets of Eden Prime. They will need to be supervised by my people or they will need tracking devices." Yoko told him.

"Otherwise you would just kill them all without mercy this time. I understand then us coming on approach now." Shepard told them as Yoko looked at her cameras to see they docked with the station.

…

_Thirty minutes later_

…

The lights in the hangar beside them were off. Shepard and his ground team came in the room.

"Hey Yoko, I see your just chilling out here in your cool station. Do you have snacks laid out for us?" Kasumi asked her to see snacks and drinks laid on the table.

"At least I try to be courteous to my guests despite bad blood between us. I even got Garrus some dextro- amino chocolate and drink on the other side of the table." She gestured as Garrus went over to it.

"Boss, I'm starting think very funny, I get to go to nice places, get nice food, and the next thing you know I may get the Asari pleasure colony cruise." Garrus told him as Shepard laughed.

"Nice try Garrus who would know how to get on a packed ship full of rich people?" Shepard asked him as Yoko shrugged.

"My friend Meyla can set you up on the one if you like. This mission is already suicide mission after all why not enjoy yourself before you die." Yoko joked as everyone sat down.

"She knows how to pull some strings unlike Shepard I concede to her leadership." Garrus joked as he ate some chocolates'.

"Well since we are here, have you even made a countermeasure to the Seeker swarms?" Shepard asked her as she shrugged.

"Of course with Padock's help, but he had to take some leave time for a personal matter. We developed a countermeasure that confuses small patches of Seeker swarms ad you can remain undetected." Yoko told them as it showed a film of the Seeker swarms introduced with a live person inside of the glass cage.

"How did you get all those Seeker Swarms? I saw more in the other giant glass." Jacob told her as she shrugged.

"I don't just jump into the unknown unlike you fools. I would like to know what we are facing first. Ever since the first the first colony abduction I sent out specialized drones to snatch up seeker drones so we can properly test it. If you were stung just once you wouldn't move at all and you will see everything they are doing." Yoko explained.

"I always admired Padock's work along with the two Dr. Minamoto's work. Yoko worked on to increase genetic life span of my people double with ease with genetic modification. Padock working on curing on Kepral's syndrome he is almost done and he can cure the ones who just caught it. Ayumi working on Turian symptom called Corpalis Syndrome almost perfected a method to curing one Turian. Even the STG group is amazed by jumps in technology and medicine." Mordin stated as Shepard looked amazed.

"Shouldn't it take like hundreds of years to fix even one of those problems?" Shepard asked him as Mordin nodded as Hope's avatar popped up.

"Of course Shepard, but you don't have the brain to fathom such a thing. Mr. Solus the Tech lab is open to you and you can look at our results on the Seeker Swarm countermeasure." Hope told them.

"An A.I. is it shacked?" Miranda asked as Hope crossed her arms.

"My name is Hope, Miss Lawson and no I'm not shackled. It's like saying I'm A.I. and your dress like a Cerberus whore." Hope stated as the men clammed up.

"She has personality unlike EDI…" Jacob muttered as Miranda frowned.

"Hello Hope it's good to see that you're doing well." Kasumi told her as they both waved.

"It's good to see your doing well too Kasumi, after almost being killed by a bomb. I have to be amazed of what Yoko or her mother comes up with. Even to the fact they made Shepard mostly human again. Up to 98% percent of his body made him almost like Saren." Hope mentioned as Shepard flinched.

"Where is the lab at?" Mordin asked her as the glowing lights lit up the way. "Thank you Hope for the assistance." he told her as walked off.

"Do any of your Quarian friends and workers' have a problem with this?" Shepard asked her as Yoko shrugged.

"I don't accept any kind of prejudice on my stations and even the work place. It won't be tolerated and the fact they accepted her without a problem. She helped gain information on Saren when we were running around chasing him." Yoko gestured as her avatar disappeared. "You wanted to talk to me about something about working together."

"The Illusive Man agreed to work with you by your terms. We don't want to be defenseless trying to fight the collectors'. You want fight the Collector's as well and it can raise our chance of survival if we work together." Miranda told her as Yoko shrugged.

"True, I do want to keep Zaeed, Garrus, Mordin, and Kasumi alive. I don't want my good work on Shepard to go to waste at all. We can do collaboration joint mission between Spectres', but don't question my authority on matters that are related to me. Let alone Shepard and TIM cannot tell me what do. The importance of teamwork is communication and I don't to be left out of the loop. We can all agree on that notion can we not?" Yoko asked him.

"It's agreeable, but we need to know of the people you are planning to pick up." Miranda told her.

"I'm picking up the survivor of Akuze and Gillian Grayson as part of my team." Yoko told them.

"Wait you mean Edward Buck is coming to the team I thought he quit." Shepard told him as Yoko shrugged.

"You're bringing along two people that do not like Cerberus at all." Miranda told her as she shrugged.

"Well he excellent solider and he works with Militia's on Mindoir still. Gillian Grayson may be young, but I trained her personally and she is excellent Biotic. Even Anderson said he would come along with me in my new ship." She told them.

"Anderson is coming along?" Shepard asked him as Yoko nodded.

"I might get some N7 soldiers' under my command, the best of the best. I plan on getting Padock and Elijah to join this operation with me." Yoko told them. "So we have a deal that we are _working _together." as she held out her hand.

"It's a deal, Zaeed and Kasumi want to be aboard your ship along with Mordin. Most likely for the lab aboard is superior to our lab. Right now we are upgrading the Normandy so it will take some time." as they shook hands.

"_At the moment I made a deal with Shepard to help monitor his progress. The council secretly wanted me on this mission to see how Cerberus worked from the inside. I will monitor their progress and procedures'. Little did I know that Jack Harper never outsmarted me, but he always shocked me by the audacity he does things. I was hoping to prevent a possible abduction in the future. I was setting plans in motion, but I need more people with special talents'. Edward Buck was the best Solider they seen at the time. He could do it all and it wasn't an exaggeration. Buck was part of the Head hunter unit; though he was never mind… he was the only person that I actually respected. He never treated me with kid gloves or goes easy because I was a __woman. He was my CO at one time when I first joined the Alliance.__ I worked with him for several missions'. I always wondered why I had to work with a team. I placed my feelings aside and studied the Thresher Maw and then killed them all. I was so wrapped up in my work to even think about him. He was not that much older than me, but he was younger than Shepard."_


	11. Author's Note

**A/N it's me again and I feel so depressed to even give an update about this. I'm so mad about the fact on how I developed my story. They way I portray Shepard, and Yoko in my story is conflicting at best. I want to portray the story really good, but I think about adding Shepard in was a bad idea to start with. I know it was mostly AU story, but I ran into writers block. I don't like to stall in developing story line, but U have to admit it. My brother says not to tell you guys I have writer's block or do not rewrite the story. So as my viewers and reviews that read this story. I don't care if you PM or Review for the story. I really need some honest reactions and responses. **

**I will give some choices below on what can happen. New input on what to do will be appreciated. Tell me in what I'm lacking in to make it a meaningful story, besides the language problem and spelling errors.**

**Rewrite story without Shepard**

**What new changes to the story you would like to see.**

**More dialogue**

**More action**

**Rip up the second part of the story itself**

**I'm really stuck on this and the problem is I forgot the 'Illusive man' doesn't deal with people he considers a true risk to them. So I didn't portray some characters' right and left out some key things in my first story. I don't like to do this, but I'm struggling now on even trying to develop the chapter. **


	12. Mock chapter

**A/N this is sneak preview chapter to my rewrite of my story, but I don't have a name to it so if you guys got any ideas go ahead and hit me with a few. I decided to rewrite because people bashing me for being some type of Marry sue and I made it a bit more realistic in a way, where her mother took the lead first in making Non-mass relay technology. I will try to keep the Yoko in the story line in a plausible way to see why she turned blonde haired and blue eyed. Then the nightmare of Shanxi will not be her at all. It will be her father instead. I been reading up on the Codex to see that the Systems Alliance isn't all that noble than what people think. So I will post this chapter up and I want to see what people think about and if you guys give a good name. I will be sure to post it up and tell you all that it's up. So please be sure to review for me please. My brother forces the idea on me after seeing the Assassin's creed 3 where it starts with the parent than the child. I hope you enjoy this mock chapter and I hope to have a name for it soon. It will contain the entire Mass effect trilogy connected together.**

...

Mars Orbit

Near South Pole of Mars

December 5, 2148

…

A young Asian woman with height at 5, 8 sat looking out the window. Her brown eyes looked out the window seeing the planet. She pushed her long black raven hair out the way as she looked bored out of her mind. She wore a white space suit as her helmet set beside her. She looked back to her laptop as she was making personal notes. A man sitting beside her looked very excited as he looked over to her.

"You're so you're the famous Dr. Ayumi Yukawa; I wasn't expecting someone so young joining this expedition on Mars. To have PHD and MD before you even turn eighteen years old. My name is Arthur Mac Douglas…" he spoke as she sighed.

"I know you're the scientist that teaches theoretical xeno-biopsychology. I don't why everyone is so excited about. If Aliens left it behind that means its redundant technology then. I don't care much for such a thing doctor. You need to understand that alien life might even be more advanced than us. They will already develop a society where they so called the control the galaxy." Ayumi noted as he nodded.

"True, but we need to study the foundation of the technology to give us understanding in technology. I wonder what type of technology we can find and use to jump our society." Arthur told her as she shrugged.

"It doesn't mean since I'm a real scientist. That's not science if you copy someone else and the people of Earth give into the crap about assimilating alien tech. I rather develop things that meaningful and can set us apart from aliens and I'm writing my paper on the fact that this technology and the fact if we have to assimilate into their society. We would be subjugated to redundant rules set by them and avenues that are not explored. That's why I'm advancing my A.I. research after I'm done with the research on Mars. I just don't know why my government shoved me on this shuttle to Mars." Ayumi muttered.

"I can see that you hate the possibility of meeting Alien life…" Arthur muttered.

"What happens if they attack us for no reason Arthur? What happens to our diversity as humanity and what will we show the galaxy full of aliens who we are. For all we know it's been several centuries and their technology are leaps and bounds before we even meet them." Ayumi told him as she placed her helmet on now.

"I never thought about it that way…" he muttered as he put his helmet on.

"In the long run we can't place us apart and have a good standing in the galaxy due to being inferior or almost like them. In terms we have to make our own future and one we can be proud of, I became a scientist to develop and create; I don't want to copy some linear form of technology." Ayumi stated as he nodded.

"_Everyone the shuttle has landed on Mars; please secure your helmets. Our staff will check your air supply before heading out." _the announcement blared over head as she saw one person coming to check on their suits.

The group ushered off as Ayumi picked up her computer tablet that was insulated for space. The group looked down to see the huge crater on mars. The facility was sitting right there as they saw excavation teams digging up starships. Arthur wandered off a bit to explore as Ayumi turned on her camera for her helmet. She looked around as she made way down the ruins as Ayumi saw element zero coming from the down fighter.

_Element Zero, we just found a raw source of it on Mars in some rocks that NASA collected in. I think the starships here have a refined form of Element Zero. I wonder what type of interface these Aliens have." _Ayumi thought as she made her way down to the ship. She looked around to see no one was bothering with one fighter. She made her way down to it as she looked at the core of the machine. She reached for her pack as she took out some vials to collect. She took her computer tablet as she ran it through her computer.

"It's just like I thought, its refined element zero. It enables the air craft to lift off and propel itself. It also changes the mass to help increase speed or slow it down by charging an electric current. Let's see how this interface system runs…" Ayumi muttered as she looked out the corner of her eye.

"Hey we haven't cleared anyone to check on the artifacts we learned." one man stated as Ayumi waved it off.

"I was told to study the ruins and any technology we found. I have the clearance from United States and multiple governments asking me to come up here, unless you want to take it up with them on this matter." Ayumi told him as she looked at him.

"No ma'am, but at least give you the debriefing of the crafts we moved in the facility." he muttered.

"I like to study wants not disturbed and it gives me a feel to what happened here. My name is Ayumi Yukawa and now go away…" she told him as he stopped and checked his radio as he told them her name.

"My apologies' Dr. Yukawa, when you're ready to see the main facility. Go to the front entrance of the facility, it will take you directly to an archive where the others are trying to study it." he told her as he walked off as Ayumi focused on the controls.

It was almost like a car, except it had holographic functions to show the basic functions. It had fighter controls, but only with four pedals instead of two.

"Aliens', seem to over complicate even the simple things. Adding a holographic interface to a device creates problems for the driver. Such as the power going out it will cause the pilot to freak out. It causes them to focus too much on them and not aware of things around them. It's just like a normal fighter plane we have and it's supped up on some technology. Nothing innovative and very dangerous seeing the fighter itself is so flimsy. It uses costly materials that are really precious and I don't see why everyone is so happy. I will finish up checking on the fighter and see how it ticks before a storm comes in. Ayumi told her as she wrote more notes down.

…

Hour later

South Polar Region of Promethei Planum

…

As Ayumi made her way through the facility as she looked around to see the scientists and archeologists were studying the dug remains as she moved about the facility not at least. She came in the room to see the many computers surrounding it as she looked at the glowing pylons in front of her. She walked looking at everything as she Arthur was in awe as he looked at the computers. He turned to her smiling as he waved her over.

"Dr. Yukawa, I'm glad you can join us today. I know you were studying the down fighters on mars, but we don't know what to make of this." Arthur told her as she looked over to see it had glowing lines. She looked at it as she made a note of it first

"Since you guys were here first, what do you think this is?" Ayumi asked them as he shook his head in defeat.

"We don't know anything about it at all… it's depressing, but I heard you have eye for detail. So did you find the fighter interesting?" Arthur asked her as she shrugged.

"The fighter has refined element zero and it's used to propel the fighter. It also uses Palladium as its armor system, Iridium around its guns. It also even uses platinum for the specialized part of the vehicle along with using holographic panels for navigation. It's almost like the cars we use back home, but it's redundant by many factors. Holographic screen and controls can fail at any moment when you have a power failure. Its cost, resources, and the work required for to produce it, costing us millions of dollars to go down the toilet along with resources." Ayumi told her as he nodded.

"Well at least you still researching on how it works and keep a somewhat open minded to this. Look around and see if you can find out what this is." Arthur told her as he joined the other scientists. Ayumi walked over taking pictures of the device she made her way around taking pictures until she was satisfied with it. She sat down opening her tablet as she looked at it.

"_I wonder what this thing is; I bet the scientists are just spouting theories. The facility itself looks like it was mostly a research facility… I wonder if I attune my computer to certain frequency." _Ayumi thought as took apart her computer to take out her WIFI card.

"Can someone give me a radio receiver?" Ayumi asked them as she saw the same man before smiling.

"I see you decided on joining the rest of the scientist. Why do you need a radio receiver?" he asked her as she turned her head.

"It's just a theory I'm working and I want to see it worked." Ayumi told him as he went to go get one as he passed along to her as she smiled.

"Thank you for the help." she told him as she inserted took apart the device and began to rearrange it and inserted the WIFI chip into it. She hooked up her tablet to the machine to display the sound waves. She fiddled around with the radio finding the frequencies until she found a weird one." as she smirked as she looked at it. The screen turned dark as weird letters dotted around the computer.

"_So this is the alien language eh, interesting, let me run every language program I know with some Egyptian hieroglyphics' programs." _Ayumi thought as she tapped away as she some data fragments began to unravel as she raised an eyebrow up as she tapped away. She typed in the search element zero on her computer.

"_My god, this is a Research facility and it seems the races of aliens called the Protheans were studying humanity's intellectual intelligence. It seems like element zero is used for multiple things and even development of FTL using a Mass Relay." _Ayumi wondered as she saw the picture of it as she passed through the bits of data.

She absorbed at her work as Arthur came over to look over her shoulder as he looked amazed.

"What's this?" Arthur asked her as she turned around to him.

"The thing before us is data cache; I've only managed to unlock some data fragments. But the whole thing is a massive amount of data and the technology doesn't match…" she trailed on.

"Hey everyone, Dr. Yukawa found out what the alien artifact is actually. It's actually a data cache filled with information and knowledge on what Element Zero!" Arthur told her as people swarmed to see her computer showing the bits of data. As they clapped happily as she blushed shaking her head.

…

"_This was my first big step into science field and when people respected me, despite being eighteen year old scientists. I knew I had a promising career in science field… I was __smarter than my parents, always reading, talking, learning, and eager to share her knowledge with anyone who would listen. I was already writing my second Doctoral Thesis at fifteen years old. I was so proud of myself for my accomplishments. I was already creating A.I. template to help me with my research. The prime minster of Japan Yorimoto Minamoto asked for my assistance since the scientists were struggling to understand it all. I managed to secretly make a copy of this archive, but it took several computer severs to hold the information._

_The people there saw the decoded data I had and found aliens do exist. They saw all the beneficial things they can use to make humanity even greater. I detested that and even stated if you turn over to this technology. You are not real scientists in my book let alone worth mentioning in my journal. I was called Humanity's first hero, despite my protest for helping decoding the archive and understanding its nature. The people all wanted to take the knowledge back in ignorance. That's when the Earth was turned on its head along with religions we know. They couldn't support or acknowledge how aliens came to be. _

_I was promised to have a promising career as scientist and I wanted to start my company. It would function as many things to supplement the Mass relay technology. The world was becoming mad and obsessed with the fact aliens existed. That's when every other nation's are shocked by what eighteen of the Earth's largest nations in 2149."_

…

_Kyoto, Japan_

_Prime Minister _

_January 24, 2149_

…

Ayumi sat down wearing a red sweater and she wore black pants along with white socks. She sat down in front of Yorimoto; he had brown flowing hair along with brown eyes. He was using Skype to communicate with others as he talked angrily to them as the call was cut off. He smoothed out his grey suit as he looked down shaking his head. He laid out some Onigiri for her and poured her some tea.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with that Dr. Yukawa, I was having a chat with the president of the United States a while ago." he told her as he prepared him some tea and snacks. He laid out a newspaper for her as it showed her getting out of the shuttle. "They made you into hero despite your great protest about the technology at hand, deeming you as Humanity's hero for decoding bits of data from the Archive on Mars." Yorimoto told her as she shook her head.

"I told you beforehand that this will happen and the fact that eighteen of our largest nations come together to make the Systems Alliance, Russia, Canada, United States, China, Brazil, Australia, India, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Congo, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Indonesia, Sudan, Libya, Iran, and Mongolia. Taking every bit of the data fragments I found and trying to turn out that outdated technology. Thinking they will be the Spearhead of humanity by using Alien technology. That's absurd to even think of that notion. They left out France, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and multiple countries out. They just took the people with money and resources to go along with this plan." Ayumi muttered in disgust as she drank her tea.

"Ayumi-sensei, have you ever watched an Anime called Gundam?" Yorimoto asked her as she shook her head. He pulled out DVDs' and handed it to her.

"No I haven't, but why is this so important?" Ayumi asked him.

"Tomino Yoshiyuki portrayed that the space colonies were oppressed by Earth. They were forced to mine and give up materials at low wages and the people on Earth sit in luxury. They had wars fighting for independence and yet the Earth never really cared for the colonies they created. They wanted their resources so badly and to generate money despite the cost. I believe as soon as Alien contact comes or the fact that this development of technology finally forms. We will be forced to be under a banner of fools who know nothing. I liked your research and the things you created so far. We have other countries jumping on with this as well and they want you to lead us to a future of our own." Yorimoto told her as he laid out a document in front of her as Ayumi looked shocked.

"Wait a minute, what's going on; you have all these other signatures'…" Ayumi muttered.

"Correct, all these nations don't support that they represent humanity's interest and actually funding your company and handing two over scientists to help you get the job done. Attaining FTL drive will be hard of course and may take years. Yet we have two scientists in the wing trying to develop such a drive, Tobias Fleming Shaw he renowned in the field quantum electrodynamics along with Wallace Fujikawa. They are refuting his work calling it crazy and a lot of nations dismissed it. Yet we are looking back on such a notion and we are taking it seriously now." Yorimoto told her as Ayumi finished her onigiri finally.

"So you want me to start a company with all these famous scientists in hopes of beating out the new formed Systems Alliance by letting them use my A.I." Ayumi voiced as a knock on the door came as she blonde man with blue eyes come in along with Japanese man.

"Of course Doctor Yukawa and I'm sorry for intruding. Despite you being young, you're declared the smartest woman in our century for a reason. My name Tobias Fleming Shaw and this is my friend Wallace Fujikawa." The blonde haired man told them as Yorimoto gestured to them.

"They already agreed to the fact of working with you along with other scientists, we want to beat the Alliance out on this quickly. You're A.I. named Jerrod is vital to help them in the work with the calculations they need to succeed. They are using Large Hadron Collider to help them in the process, but it's taking forever to do so." Yorimoto explained.

"I'm honored to see your work can help finished our long term dream of reaching the stars Dr. Yukawa. We feel that our countries in no time will be left in the dust and they already developing the technology needed to explore the Solar system." Wallace told her as she nodded.

"Well its honor going to be working with you two then, we might as well get started then. What type of lab setup do you both have?" Ayumi asked her.

"It's being conducted in London now and we are getting the necessary team to standby to help counteract the efforts of the Alliance. The data you managed to make a copy of will make a difference." Tobias told them as she nodded as Ayumi turned to him as she bowed.

"Thank you for this opportunity Minamoto-san, but I don't know what to call this company." Ayumi muttered as he laughed.

"I think we call this company the Nexus, Latin for center. It's where all of our technology will come to make us a whole. Where each corner stone of technology will keep us true to whom we are. I'm surprised to see that they want to place in your charge of such a big company. I know you can handle it and many others' believe you can edge out the difference by using technologies that were previously banned or limited by the government. We have the systems Alliance to thank for that new development." Yorimoto told her as the three began to leave. The door opened to reveal a young man that was looked at him for a moment. He was taller than most as he stood at 6, 2 with brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a Japanese self defense force uniform as the three went by out the door. He looked at her as his Yorimoto laughed at him as the door shut almost behind him. Someone slipped past the door wearing black trench coat and hood covering his face. He wore normal attire of clothing along with sunglasses.

"Isamu Minamoto, my dear cousin, we both saw you checking out Dr. Yukawa on the way out. I can see was curious to see who you were as well." the man told them as Yorimoto laughed.

"My shadow warrior from the Goto family, it's hard to believe that we were a samurai family and we took civil jobs. Then you on the other hand were acting like a Japanese James Bond Kenshiro." Isamu laughed as they shook hands as he laughed.

"You know the ladies like that type of guy, so I stride to make my best profession. Keep a clean record and actual travel unlike modern criminals. So you heard about the new Systems Alliance?" Kenshiro asked them as waved his hands sarcastically.

"I heard and eighteen of the Earth's nations come together to form the Systems Alliance. Thinking they will be the pioneers of Humanity by using alien technology. They want all the other nations to help back them up in this matter. The rest of us see that this is ploy to gain more money, power, and resources. When they do get off the ground they will try to claim everything is there and leave some countries as third world power still." Yorimoto told them.

"Bingo." Kenshiro told them as he threw a folder on the desk. "It seems that they want the littler countries to help support this endeavor and leave them in the dust after they achieve something. They plan on building companies around the technology and do monopoly on it. We all see the benefits it can give, but that's just a ploy to win people over. So to counter act the Systems Alliance efforts, Japan will lead the forefront to this ACF or Allied Collation Force. Supporting Dr. Yukawa research and future ideas and to support scientists that were called quacks at one time." Kenshiro told him as he sat in the chair.

"I get this call from self defense force that we are joining up with France, Germany, and United Kingdom and in special training courses. I know the newly formed Systems Alliance won't like this idea." Isamu told his father as he nodded.

"Just like the fact that the people didn't like the fact that what they did was surprising. They threw out a lot of laws to support this alien technology. Thinking they will gain power and fame for such a thing. I am merely going about the same goal with a different method. We are still allies, but I support in things I can trust. What happens if this technology has strings to it or the alien civilization is far more advanced than us? They would placate to them and give up the things we know for their sake. I rather not chance such a thing in their hands seeing they will destroy us a whole." Yorimoto told them.

"What happens if the aliens and the systems Alliance don't like the way the ACF is running?" Isamu asked him as he sat down.

"Then they will have to take a back seat to it then. If war comes it comes, but know they don't represent us as a whole. They wanted to gain all the benefits and be in power. Leaving people behind and not consulting their allies on such big decision. We will find aliens that don't approve of this galaxy civilization ways. I know everyone of them don't get along with each other. Just like human nature I suppose. We will work with the Systems Alliance for the time being, but mark my words, when they turn tail on such a matter of defense of home world and colonies. We will stand up and defend for them and not let politics ruin military solution." Yorimoto stated.

"So Isamu let's talk about the doctor you were staring at?" Kenshiro asked as Isamu stared at him.

"I don't have any feelings for the doctor let alone think of having a relationship in a dangerous occupation." Isamu stated as the two laughed at him as his father held up camera phone showing him staring at her in awe.

"Did you know she is single and she is turned 19 years old January 1st? Maybe I should set up Miai (arranged Marriage) with you in her; I should talk to her parents." His father told him.

"Urusai (shut up), besides Kenshiro is the one to get several woman pregnant if he keeps that attitude up." Isamu told him as Yorimoto looked at him as Kenshiro shrugged.

"I don't want to end up with kids and responsibility before I'm 25 years old, I will try to slow down…" Kenshiro told him as Isamu's fathers shook his head.

"At least you will admit it to me…" he told him as he looked at the Television screen.

"_This is Glenn Sanders with CNN News hear now and announcing that newly formed Systems Alliance will try to reproduce the technology that Dr. Ayumi Yukawa uncovered. Saying it will be a giant milestone to humanity's benefits. All attempts to get the doctor to help work on building the technology has failed so far, she quoted._

"_I'm a scientists and I developed and build new technologies, not try to recreate that someone already done before."_

_Alliance is trying to get her to join the cause, but the newly formed ACF consisting of several smaller countries' with Japan help leading the United Kingdom, France, and other nations with the same goal as the Alliance, believing that the systems Alliance is using the size of the countries resources, people, and money to gain more power. They are building an experimental FTL drive that will place them on top before the Alliance can build an actual working ship that can work. Everyone is racing against the cloak to get to space and explore the Sol system thoroughly._

_The Alliance is preparing to send a team out within the year to space hoping they can gain a mile stone achievement before the Allied Collation forces get this FTL drive completed." _

_We will have further news later in the day about the countries diplomatic talks. The system Alliance wanted everyone else to help in this endeavor of exploring alien technology. Diplomatic ways of accepting the new technology are at a standstill."_

The three sat back as they drank tea to see Mr. Minamoto's phone ringing off the hook again as he shook his head.

…

_February 6, 2149_

_London United Kingdom_

_ACF collaboration facility_

_11:00 A.M._

…

"_To think in such short amount of time, that my A.I. helped developed and progress research. The drive I was help making was called the slip space drive and tests' were promising. It really needed a real field test to show it could work. Other projects like new bio fuel, reactors, and special projects to make the technology better than the ones shown in the data I collected. The archive was amazing itself and I was luckily to make a copy of it. We were building our first prototype ship and with experimental weapons. The ACF saw my progress and the way I progress my experiments with success. They wanted me to be the director of S.N.R.I. (Strategic Naval Research Institute). They incorporated several institutes and intelligence agencies. It focused on every type of science and most of the team works with the company. It was ok seeing the fact I still didn't have my building of my own, but that was going to change soon._

_S.N.R.I focused mostly on development of strategy, weapons, and development of new technology for the ACF. Tobias and Wallace were having a ball to see their dream actually coming true, but my thought went back to the man I met meeting with Minamoto-san. I think it was his son Isamu, he was cute, but I need to focus. I had important meeting with the president of the United States coming to meet me. His name was Ben Ashford and he was coming to meet me in person. Apparently my work caught the attention of several people or the fact I was one who managed to decode the data. I was not to negotiate on the fact working for them to make alien technology._

…

Ayumi sat humming to herself as she tapped away on her holographic touch screen computer. It was new computer using a small keyboard holding the necessary hardware to make it work. She wore a red sweater, black skirt, black high heels, and a white lab coat. She looked up to see a man with several guards coming down the hall way. They were wearing mostly black suits, except the man wearing a blue suit. He had gray white hair and blue eyes as he wore a pair of glasses. She got up from her seat as he came in and smiled.

"So I get to meet the famous Doctor Ayumi Yukawa, you have such a promising career as a scientist. My name is Ben Ashford the president of the United States." Ben told her as they shook hands as she waved an assistant over to go get tea.

"It's honor to meet you Mr. President, I didn't think you will make a trip over to the UK for just a meeting with me. I will have my assistant bring in some tea for us along with some snacks." she told him as he nodded as they both sat down. "What can I do for you today or maybe you want to discuss something with me about the new developments." She mentioned as she nodded as she saw secret service agents test the tea before her assistant came in with it. She came in handed it to them as they both to a drink of it before he started to talk.

"I would like to congratulate you on cracking the data cache on Mars, despite the fact it was small bits of information. We know that alien life does exist along with the advance technology. I came here wondering why you don't help develop the technology with us. The rest of the world opposes what we are doing and decided to team up to develop technology. Since we took off a lot of restrictions to try and recreate the technology in the data banks." Ben explained.

"The keyword here is 'recreate', Mr. President that doesn't me a scientist at all. Technology that may be outdated by several years to hundred years or more, I only unlocked the data cache and the promise of funding and supplies for my own company one day. Right now I lead S.N.R.I. and I'm not moving from the position. The Systems Alliance claims they will pioneer for _humanity_, but that's a farce you gave to everyone. You didn't even include your long term allies in this deal and expect we are suppose to join the Alliance." Ayumi voiced as he nodded.

"I see your point, but it will take everyone's help to fight whoever is out there or the Protheans who left the technology. I understand you take your job seriously as scientists', but to declare yourself as separate power is unbelievable. You don't have the resources to do such a thing." Ben told her as she shrugged.

"True, but we are making due in what we got, by being smart and develop substitutes to the problem. We already created a new bio-fuel that can save money and promote ourselves by using proven technology and ones that were previously banned. We will have our own FTL drive down in one more month as well and it places us in the lead of the spearhead of humanity. We are scared that the fact the Alliance won't represent Humanity at all, but self interest. You would have left countries in third world status to control them. The move you all played was power play for resources and power." Ayumi told him as he nodded drinking the rest of his tea.

"True, that would happen, but what happens to the fact the alien civilization wants us to join their civilization and they have terms to limit some of your research. It prevents us from us from joining them. What happens then?" Ben asked her as she shrugged.

"Don't join them at all." Ayumi told him. "They clearly are limited by technology and their own rule to see the benefits let alone use them right. If the problem comes in the future about such a thing, I know that the ACF will not abide by such a thing. We are keeping true to who we are. Not just ditching away the things that make us unique." Ayumi told him as he nodded as he got up as he shook her hand.

"I'm sorry I've take up your time Dr. Yukawa, I see that convincing you will be impossible. I wish you luck in your endeavor, but we are going with proven data that worked in the Mars data cache. I heard that this slip space drive is almost like a black hole, which sounds very dangerous itself. We plan to send Jon Grissom up into the stars to explore the Sol system to find the Mass Relay." Ben told her as she laughed a bit.

"To think the systems Alliance represents Humanity by using Alien technology, let's see who will get to stars and back with promising results." Ayumi told him as the president made his way out the door. Ayumi looked over to see the ship being developed that was 478 meters length and 152 meters wide that had Titanium plating. She smiled to see the progress was running smooth. She looked up to see a person coming into the room as she saw him wore a white space suit. She had red hair and brown eyes as Ayumi waved to her.

"I see your going through the NASA training really well; we are redesigning the suit to be more practical and useful in space. Amelia Scarlet, I was amazed that you agreed to undergo such a thing like going into a black hole." Ayumi told her as she smiled.

"Like how Amelia Earhart tried going around the world and got lost. I'm honored to see that I'm going to be the first women to use explore and use this drive to head into space. Can you tell me a little more about this slip space drive?" Amelia asked her as Ayumi pressed a button to make the room go dark. An image of the slip space came up.

"The Shaw-Fujikawa engine functions by creating ruptures, referred to in some sources as wormholes, between normal space and an alternate plane known as slip space. The nonstandard physics of slip space allow it to be used as a shortcut realm, Facilitating Interstellar travel between distant regions in reasonable time. The engine makes ruptures by using high-power cyclic particle accelerators to generate microscopic black holes. Because of their low mass, 'Hawking radiation' gives them a lifetime of around a nanosecond before they evaporate into useless thermal energy. In that nanosecond, the engine manipulates them into forming a coherent rupture between normal space and the slipstream." Ayumi explained.

"So essentially I'm going down a wormhole to travel a certain distance. Though it's still untested, you ran countless simulations to show what could happen." Amelia told her as she nodded.

"We are training the essential staff to learn how the ship works in the construction process. I don't like the fact we have to send someone out there in space for untested drive. I wanted to ask you again, are you ready to do this?" Ayumi asked her as she smiled.

"There is no turning back now and I made sure to make amends with my family before doing this. You're going to make me a famous person for trying the first FTL drive humanity can make by themselves and the visit a planet we can colonize. Can I name it after we do a survey of the planet?" Amelia asked her as Ayumi nodded.

"I have no doubt that they will let you name the first planet that we find suitable planet we can colonize on." Ayumi told her as door opened up to let Amelia into the room. "Go get acquainted with the engineers there and you can help assemble your team." Ayumi told her as they moved through to talk to Wallace and Tobias to talk about the development of the drive.

…

"_It took a full month to get our ship up in the air; we launched our ship into space with Amelia giving at the command. The first use of the slip space drive brought us worry as we worried that it worked perfectly. To see they actually go through it without any problems gave us all relief we managed to work quickly to get out ship off the ground, unlike the Alliance who couldn't produce it quickly enough. So it's been three months since we last saw them and hoping they will come back. Jon Grissom recently was sent out on exploration of the Sol system. He found that the moon Charon was actually a mass relay encrusted by ice. We hoped Amelia will make it back before Jon Grissom did and actually show good results for it."_

…

_May 10, 2149_

_S.N.R.I Research building_

_Australia_

_Comm. room_

…

Ayumi and the other sat there as they watched from the numerous probes and satellites' to see of her return as Amelia was supposed to make it back within three months if it was possible.

"We have a huge energy spike reading from one of our probes in space. We will have a visual on it in 3…2…1 and now!" one man shouted as the camera came online as they saw a ship passing through by section pieces. The camera came online as the saw the pilot come up giving a thumbs as Amelia pulled her helmet off smiling.

"Mission success everyone and we found a Garden world matching earth's that 10. 5 years away from earth. It's basically on the door step on Earth and the crew and I agree we should call it Reach." as the crowd started cheering as they displayed the visual data over the news. Ayumi saw that everyone was popping up champagne bottles' with ease as they sprayed through the air. She smiled as they CNN news was catching the news now. Jon Grissom made an appearance back in the system now.

"_This is just breaking news with Glenn Sanders here. We have two news reports that ACF's ship has made it back and found a Garden world similar to Earth. She used an experimental FTL system to go back and forth and now the ACF has an actual leverage against the Systems Alliance." he told them._

"_Jon Grissom activated the Relay and went 36 light years away and found that there were more mass relay out there believes it to be network system. We have two new heroes' despite the different approaches, but one to be very proud of now the least. One group achieved the impossible by doing it their way with human ingenuity. This is Glenn Sanders out until more information is given."_

The group sat back as she saw Wallace and Tobias come shacking up hands with her.

"Thank you Dr. Yukawa for helping with our project and without you A.I. research we would be waiting for at least a hundred years." Tobias told her as he handed her a glass.

"It looks like you two will be getting a Nobel prize for this achievement, but I think you two probably want to develop the drive even more to be quicker and more efficient." Ayumi told them as they laughed raising their glasses together.

"That's what real scientists do is develop and make it better after all. This is for the bright future of Humanity and our careers', cheers!" Wallace told them as hit their glasses together and took a drink from the glass.


	13. News2

**A/N it's me again and I decided to post the new story up alone. For all those who haven't seen it or reviewed it please take a look at it. Thank you all for supporting me in this endeavor, I will leave the stories up just in case you guys can't find my profile. I will shelve the stories that I didn't complete and look back on them for reference. **

**The new story is called: Divergence of the Path**


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